Homosexual Demography: Implications for the Spread of AIDS

Journal of Sex Research, Nov, 1998 by Christopher Hewitt

A MODEL OF HOMOSEXUAL BEHAVIOR

It is clear that men who engage in homosexuality vary in the extent, duration, and timing of such activity. Ethnographic accounts suggest five types, and most individuals can be placed in at least one of them. The typology is based upon an individual's life history and is, therefore, retrospective in nature. In terms of Kinsey's scale of sexual preferences, types I and II would be 5 or 6 (with a strong preference for male sexual partners). Type III would rate 3 or 4 on the scale, (equally attracted to both men and women), while types IV and V would be 1 or 2 (prefer women but also mildly attracted to men).

Type I: Open Preferential Homosexuals

Some individuals of this type report that they have been exclusively homosexual throughout their lifetime, and strongly reject the idea of having sex with women.

   I have never had a sexual experience with a woman and have absolutely no
   desire to have one. I most certainly do not hate women. I think that they
   are fine, enjoyable to work with, socialize with, but would never want to
   live with one, much less have sex with one.... I'd no more be sexually
   intimate with a woman than I would with a reptile. Utterly repulsive idea.
   I've never even come close to sex with a woman. (Jay &Young, 1979, p.125)

Type II: Repressed Preferential Homosexuals

Others, however, describe attempts to lead a heterosexual life, and a significant minority get married. Their accounts usually indicate that this was due to social pressure, and that they tried to suppress their homosexual desires.

   In college I had three male one-night stands and no sex with girls. These
   three sessions caused me much grief--I struggled to forget the fact that
   they had really happened. I would not accept the fact that I might be a
   (horror of horrors) homosexual.... I married in my mid-20s still struggling
   with the guilt of those three one-night stands. I thought that marriage
   would erase all gay desires and that I would somehow escape the guilt
   feelings (actually the gay urges and yearnings I was struggling with
   subconsciously and trying to suppress). Sex with my wife was not terribly
   exciting. (Jay & Young, 1979, p. 119)

Type III: Bisexuals

Although many of the above groups may be, in a behavioral sense, bisexual, they are very different from those who prefer a blend of homosexual and heterosexual activity. Saghir and Robins (1973) quote a good example of this type.

   I am certainly enjoying the heterosexual and homosexual contacts. It is
   like apples and oranges. I like them both. I would object to giving any of
   them up. I get out and seek homosexual partners in my off hours and
   sometimes I make excuses that I have to work late. After 5 years of
   marriage, I still have intercourse with my wife 3-4 times a week.... [and]
   at least four homosexual contacts a week. (p. 99)

Type IV: Experimental Homosexuals

Many males experiment with homosexuality during adolescence, and in their twenties. Then they start having sex with women and stop having sex with men. Harry and DeVall (1978) argue that these men are really heterosexuals "who for a short period of time dabble in homosexual behavior" (p. 73). One of Brecher's respondents describes such experimental homosexuality (1984): "When I was about 15, the six or eight boys who hung together indulged in a summer of group masturbation, oral sex, and attempts at anal sex. This passed as soon as we discovered girls" (p. 217).