<< Homosexual Activity and Age >>

In the total male population, single and married, between adolescence and old age, 24 per cent of the total outlet is derived from solitary sources (masturbation and nocturnal emissions), 69.4 per cent is derived from heterosexual sources (petting and coitus), and 6.3 per cent of the total number of orgasms is derived from homosexual contacts. It is not more than 0.3 per cent of the outlet which is derived from relations with animals of other species.

Since only 50 per cent of the population is exclusively heterosexual throughout its adult life, and since only 4 per cent of the population is exclusively homosexual throughout its life, it appears that nearly half (46%) of the population engages in both heterosexual and homosexual activities, or reacts to persons of both sexes, in the course of their adult lives.

If all persons with any trace of homosexual history, or those who were predominantly homosexual, were eliminated from the population today, there is no reason for believing that the incidence of the homosexual in the next generation would be materially reduced. The homosexual has been a significant part of human sexual activity ever since the dawn of history, primarily because it is an expression of capacities that are basic in the human animal.

Homosexual contacts account, therefore, for a rather small but still significant portion of the total outlet of the human male. The significance of the homosexual is, furthermore, much greater than the frequencies of outlet may indicate, because a considerable portion of the population, perhaps the major portion of the male population, has at least some homosexual experience between adolescence and old age. In addition, about 60 per cent of the pre-adolescent boys engage in homosexual activities (Chapter 5), and there is an additional group of adult males who avoid overt contacts but who are quite aware of their potentialities for reacting to other males.

An individual who engages in a sexual relation with another male without, however, coming to climax, or an individual who is erotically aroused by a homosexual stimulus without ever having overt relations, has certainly had a homosexual experience. Such relations and reactions are, however, not included in the incidence data given here nor in most other places in this volume, because the volume as a whole has been concerned with the number and sources of male orgasms. On the other hand, the data on the heterosexual-homosexual ratings do take into account these homosexual contacts in which the subject fails to reach climax. Accumulative incidence curves based upon heterosexual-homosexual ratings may, therefore, be somewhat higher than the accumulative incidence curves based upon overt contacts carried through to the point of actual orgasm.

Data on the homosexual activity of the pre-adolescent boy have been presented in another chapter (Chapter 5) and no male is included in any of the calculations shown in the present chapter unless he has had homosexual experience beyond the onset of adolescence.

Accumulative Incidence in Total Sample
In these terms (of physical contact to the point of orgasm), the data in the present study indicate that at least 37 per cent of the male population has some homosexual experience between the beginning of adolescence and old age (U. S. Corrections. See Table 139, Figure 156). This is more than one male in three of the persons that one may meet as he passes along a city street. Among the males who remain unmarried until the age of 35, almost exactly 50 per cent have homosexual experience between the beginning of adolescence and that age. Some of these persons have but a single experience, and some of them have much more or even a lifetime of experience; but all of them have at least some experience to the point of orgasm.

Table 139-140. Accumulative incidence data on total and pre-marital homosexual outlets
Age Homosexual Outlet: Accumulative Incidence Data
Total Population
U. S. Corrections		 Educ. Level
0-8		 Educ. Level
9-12		 Educ. Level
13+
Total Pre-marital Total Pre-marital Total Pre-marital Total Pre-marital
Cases % with
Exper.		 Cases % with
Exper.		 Cases % with
Exper.		 Cases % with
Exper.		 Cases % with
Exper.		 Cases % with
Exper..		 Cases % with
Exper.		 Cases % with
Exper.
8 3969 0.0 4301 0.0 662 0.0 814 0.0 490 0.0 632 0.0 2817 0.0 2855 0.0
9 3969 0.1 4301 0.1 662 0.0 814 0.0 490 0.2 632 0.2 2817 0.1 2855 0.1
10 3969 0.5 4301 0.4 662 0.2 814 0.2 490 0.6 632 0.5 2817 0.5 2855 0.5
11 3968 1.7 4300 1.8 661 1.2 813 1.2 490 2.0 632 2.1 2817 1.8 2855 1.8
12 3968 6.1 4300 6.4 661 5.6 813 5.5 490 6.3 632 7.0 2817 6.2 2855 6.1
13 3968 12.6 4299 13.1 661 11.0 812 11.0 490 13.7 632 14.6 2817 11.6 2855 11.6
14 3965 21.3 4296 21.5 658 17.8 809 17.8 490 24.1 632 24.5 2817 18.0 2855 18.0
15 3957 27.7 4289 28.0 652 24.8 802 24.7 488 31.1 632 31.6 2817 21.1 2855 21.1
16 3934 31.6 4261 32.1 635 27.7 781 28.0 483 36.0 626 36.7 2816 23.0 2854 23.0
17 3874 34.5 4177 35.8 598 27.8 731 .28.7 462 40.9 596 42.8 2814 24.1 2850 24.1
18 3738 36.7 3981 37.8 574 29.3 674 30.1 426 43.7 535 45.4 2738 25.6 2772 25.5
19 3507 37.5 3657 39.8 544 29.0 598 30.1 389 45.0 457 48.6 2574 26.7 2602 26.6
20 3203 36.7 3238 40 3 516 28.9 518 31.7 348 43.4 376 48.4 2339 27.6 2344 27.4
21 2830 37.0 2782 40.4 492 29.1 456 32.0 305 43.6 312 48.1 2033 28.6 2014 28.5
22 2428 37.1 2233 40.6 473 29.0 367 32.7 283 43.5 251 47.8 1672 29.8 1615 29.8
23 2113 37.3 1795 42.1 458 29.0 298 35.9 258 43.4 215 48.4 1397 31.5 1282 31.2
24 1822 36.5 1433 44.1 438 29.2 260 36.5 232 41.8 178 51.7 1152 32.1 995 31.2
25 1636 35.4 1157 44.4 418 28.0 221 38.0 216 42.1 154 53.2 1002 33.0 782 33.0
26 1493 35.6 945 46.9 407 28.0 189 42.3 202 42.6 135 54.8 884 32.9 621 33.7
27 1358 35.6 736 48.1 393 28.5 171 45.0 191 41.9 119 54.6 774 33.7 446 35.0
28 1252 35.5 593 48.9 379 28.2 150 47.3 174 42.0 105 53.3 699 33.9 338 38.8
29 1143 33.7 491 48.0 355 27.3 131 45.8 154 39.0 91 52.7 634 33.6 269 38.7
30 1049 32.4 397 48.1 339 26.5 117 45.3 137 38.7 72 54.2 573 33.7 208 40.4
31 973 31.3 324 48.6 319 25.4 99 45.5 125 36.8 64 54.7 529 34.2 161 41.6
32 915 30.5 281 50.2 307 26.1 93 46.2 116 34.5 56 57.1 492 32.9 132 43.9
33 856 31.0 242 49.7 295 25.4 80 45.0 113 36.3     448 33.9 113 44.2
34 804 29.9 207 50.9 287 23.7 75 42.7 105 35.2     412 34.7 90 46.7
35 747 27.5 180 49.8 273 22.3 70 40.0 92 33.7     382 34.0 76 47.4
36 703 27.2 163 50.5 260 22.7 69 40.6 87 32.2     356 33.7 66 50.0
37 641 26.1 141 48.8 242 21.9 62 40.3 76 30.3     323 33.4 56 55.4
38 611 25.4 132 53.7 234 20.9 58 41.4 70 30.0     307 33.2 54 53.7
39 556 25.3 114 50.8 212 20.8 51 37.3 64 29.7     280 33.6    
40 509 25.0     194 21.6     58 29.3     257 32.7    
41 474 23.3     183 20.2     53 26.4     238 31.9    
42 445 23.3     174 19.5     50 28.0     221 31.2    
43 399 22.9     159 20.1           192 32.8    
44 369 23.5     146 21.9           177 31.1    
45 340 22.9     135 21.5           161 32.9    
“Educ. level 0-8” are the males who never go beyond grade school.
“Educ. level 9-12” are the males who enter high school but never go beyond.
“Educ. level 13+” are the males who will ultimately go to college.

Covering the life span, including pre-marital, extra-marital, and post-marital histories.
In three educational levels,
and in the total population corrected for the U. S. Census of 1940.


As in any other type of sexual situation, there are:
    (1) individuals who have been erotically aroused by other individuals of the same sex, whether or no
they had physical contact with them;
    (2) individuals who have had physical contacts of a sexual sort with other individuals of the same sex,
whether or no they were erotically aroused in those contacts; and
    (3) individuals who have been aroused to the point of orgasm by their physical contacts with
individuals of the same sex.

Figures 156-158, 83f. Homosexual outlet (for total population and single men alone) :
accumulative incidence in total U. S. population and in three educational levels.
Vs. Homosexual outlet for women of different types of experience and marital status, as well as male
masturbation (M), premarital intercourse (p-m I), and total heterosexual intercourse (ThI)

Blue line shows percent of total population
which has ever had homosexual experience by each of the indicated ages.
Green line shows percent of the population of single males which has ever had experience.
All data corrected for U. S. Census distribution.
The incidence for the total population is lower than the incidence for the single population
because the males who marry have less homosexual experience and bring down
the averages when they are included in the calculations with the single males.


The number of males who have any homosexual experience after the onset of adolescence (the accumulative incidence) is highest in the group that enters high school but never goes beyond in its educational career. In that group 55 per cent of the males who are still single by 30 years of age have had the experience of being brought to climax through a physical contact with another male (Table 90). Among the boys who never go beyond grade school the corresponding figure is 45 per cent, and for the males who belong to the college level, 40 per cent. The accumulative incidence figures for the whole of the life span (Table 140, Figure 157) are a bit higher for all of these groups, inasmuch as there are some males who do not have their first homosexual experience until after they are 30 years of age.

Some of the females in the sample had been conscious of specifically erotic responses to other females when they were as young as three and four. The percentages of those who had been erotically aroused had then steadily risen, without any abrupt development, to about thirty years of age. By that time, a quarter (25 per cent) of all the females had recognized erotic responses to other females. The accumulative incidence figures had risen only gradually after age thirty. They had finally reached a level at about 28 per cent.
Our accumulative incidence figures for homosexual responses among females are close to those in two other studies: Davis 1929:247 (26 per cent at age 36). Gilbert Youth Research 1951 (13 per cent, college students).

The number of females in the sample who had made specifically sexual contacts with other females also rose gradually, again without any abrupt development, from the age of ten to about thirty. By then some 17 per cent of the females had had such experience. By age forty, 19 per cent of the females in the total sample had had some physical contact with other females which was deliberately and consciously, at least on the part of one of the partners, intended to be sexual.
Our accumulative incidence figures for overt homosexual contacts among females are of the same general order as those from other studies: Davis 1929:247 (20 per cent, unmarried college and graduate females, average age 36). Bromley and Britten 1938:117 (4 per cent, college females). Landis et al. 1940:262, 286 (4 per cent, single females). England acc. Rosenthal 1951:58 (20 per cent, British females). Gilbert Youth Research 1951 (6 per cent, college females).

Homosexual activity among the females in the sample had been largely confined to the single females and, to a lesser extent, to previously married females who had been widowed, separated, or divorced. Both the incidences and frequencies were distinctly low among the married females. Thus, while the accumulative incidences of homosexual contacts had reached 19 per cent in the total sample by age forty, they were 24 per cent for the females who had never been married by that age, 3 per cent for the married females, and 9 per cent for the previously married females. The age at which the females had married seemed to have had no effect on the pre-marital incidences of homosexual activity, even though we found that the pre-marital heterosexual activities (petting and pre-marital coitus) had been stepped up in anticipation of an approaching marriage. The chief effect of marriage had been to stop the homosexual activities, thereby lowering the active incidences and frequencies in the sample of married females.

A half to two-thirds of the females who had had sexual contacts with other females had reached orgasm in at least some of those contacts. By twenty years of age there were only 4 per cent of the total sample who had experienced orgasm in homosexual relations, and by age thirty-five there were still only 11 per cent with such experience. The accumulative incidences finally reached 13 per cent in the middle forties. Since there were differences in the incidences among females of the various educational levels, and since our sample includes a disproportionate number of the females of the college and graduate groups where the incidences seem to be higher than in the grade school and high school groups, the figures for this sample are probably higher than those which might be expected in the U. S. population as a whole.

The incidences of homosexual activity among the females in the sample had been definitely correlated with their educational backgrounds. This was more true than with any of their other sexual activities.

Homosexual responses had occurred among a smaller number of the females of the grade school and high school sample, a distinctly larger number of the college sample, and still more of the females who had gone on into graduate work. At thirty years of age, for instance, there were 10 per cent of the grade school sample, 18 per cent of the high school sample, 25 per cent of the college sample, and 33 per cent of the graduate group who had recognized that they had been erotically aroused by other females.
Davis 1929:308 also finds a higher incidence of adult homosexual responses among better educated females (38 per cent of college group, 15 per cent of non-college group).

Overt contacts had similarly occurred in a smaller number of the females of the lower educational levels and a larger number of those of the upper educational levels. At thirty years of age, the accumulative incidence figures had reached 9 per cent, 10 per cent, 17 per cent, and 24 per cent in the grade school, high school, college, and graduate groups, respectively.

At thirty years of age, homosexual experience to the point of orgasm had occurred in 6 per cent of the grade school sample, 5 per cent of the high school sample, 10 per cent of the college sample, and 14 per cent of the graduate sample.

We have only hypotheses to account for the extension of this type of sexual activity in the better educated groups. We are inclined to believe that moral restraint on pre-marital heterosexual activity is the most important single factor contributing to the development of a homosexual history, and such restraint is probably most marked among the younger and teen-age girls of those social levels that send their daughters to college. In college, these girls are further restricted by administrators who are very conscious of parental concern over the heterosexual morality of their offspring. The prolongation of the years of schooling, and the consequent delay in marriage, interfere with any early heterosexual development of these girls. This is particularly true if they go on into graduate work. All of these factors contribute to the development of homosexual histories. There may also be a franker acceptance and a somewhat lesser social concern over homosexuality in the upper educational levels.

Active Incidence to Orgasm
Among single males in the population, the highest active incidence figures occur in the older age groups. Between adolescence and 15 years of age about 1 male in 4 (27%) has some homosexual experience (Table 58).

The figures rise to nearly 1 male in 3 in the later teens and appear to drop a bit in the early twenties. Among those who are not married by the latter part of their twenties, the incidence is about 1 male in 3, and the figures increase slightly among older unmarried males (39%). There are some minor differences in the trends in the different social levels.

The drop in the active incidence figures between 21 and 25 appears so consistently through all of the calculations, that there is reason for believing that it represents an actual fact in the behavior of the population. During their late teens, many males experience considerable personal conflict over their homosexual activities, because they have become more conscious of social reactions to such contacts. Particularly in that period, many individuals attempt to stop their homosexual relations, and try to make the heterosexual adjustments which society demands. Some of these individuals are, of course, successful, but in a certain number of cases they finally reach the point, somewhere in their middle twenties, where they conclude that it is too costly to attempt to avoid the homosexual, and consciously, deliberately and sometimes publicly decide to renew such activities. Another factor which certainly contributes to the decrease in active incidence in the early twenties is the fact that heterosexually oriented males are then marrying in great numbers, and this leaves an increasingly select group at older ages in the single population.

Since there is every gradation between the casual, non-erotic physical contacts which females regularly make and the contacts which bring some erotic response, it has not been possible to secure active incidence or frequency data on homosexual contacts among the females in the sample except where they led to orgasm. However, comparisons of the accumulative incidence data for experience and for orgasm suggest that the active incidences of the homosexual contacts may, at least in the younger groups, have been nearly twice as high as the active incidences of the contacts which led to orgasm.

In the total sample, not more than 2 to 3 per cent had reached orgasm in their homosexual relations during adolescence and their teens, although five times that many may have been conscious of homosexual arousal and three times that many may have had physical contacts with other girls which were specifically sexual. After age twenty, the active incidences of the contacts which led to orgasm had gradually increased among the females who were still unmarried, reaching their peak, which was 10 per cent, at age forty. Then they began to drop. Between the ages of forty-six and fifty, about 4 per cent of the still unmarried females were actively involved in homosexual relations that led to orgasm. We do not have complete histories of single females who were reaching orgasm in homosexual relations after fifty years of age, but we do have incomplete information on still older women who were making such contacts with responses to orgasm while they were in their fifties, sixties, and even seventies.

Among the married females, slightly more than 1 per cent had been actively involved in homosexual activities which reached orgasm in each and every age group between sixteen and forty-five.

On the other hand, among the females who had been previously married and who were then separated, widowed, or divorced, something around 6 per cent were having homosexual contacts which led to orgasm in each of the groups from ages sixteen to thirty-five. After that some 3 to 4 per cent were involved, but by the middle fifties, only 1 per cent of the previously married females were having contacts which were complete enough to effect orgasm.

Table 90. Homosexual outlet, as related to educational level
Age
Group		 Educ.
Level		 Cases Homosexual Outlet, by Educational Levels
Total Population Active Population Accum.
Incid.
%
Mean
Frequency		 %of
Total
Outlet		 Incid.
%		 Mean
Freq.		 Median
Freq.
Single Males
Adol.-15 0-8 712 0.24 ± 0.03 8.03 23.7 1.01 0.42 25
  9-12 606 0.29 ± 0.04 8.73 32.5 0.88 0.30 33
  13 + 2799 0.09 ± 0.01 3.14 21.5 0.41 0.09 22
16-20 0-8 720 0.22 ± 0.03 6.85 26.1 0.84 0.34 32
  9-12 607 0.38 ± 0.05 10.81 40.9 0.93 0.31 48
  13 + 2861 0.07 ± 0.01 2.43 16.0 0.41 0.08 27
21-25 0-8 361 0.25 ± 0.05 8.06 22.4 1.12 0.41 38
  9-12 263 0.48 ± 0.08 16.31 37.6 1.26 0.68 53
  13 + 1898 0.09 ± 0.01 3.72 9.5 0.96 0.30 33
26-30 0-8 159 0.40 ± 0.14 14.04 27.7 1.44 0.48 45
  9-12 117 0.73 ± 0.18 25.95 46.2 1.58 0.73 55
  13 + 487 0.23 ± 0.04 8.82 17.2 1.31 0.66 40
Married Males
16-20 0-8 158 0.14 ± 0.06 3.08 10.1 1.43 0.35 10
  9-12 87 0.11 ± 0.08 2.11 9.2 1.14 0.39 12
  13 + 46  0.16 2.2    3
21-25 0-8 324 0.05 ± 0.02 1.33 9.3 0.58 0.09  
  9-12 164 0.04 ± 0.02 1.05 13.4 0.32 0.10  
  13+ 440 0.02 ± 0.01 0.53 2.7 0.72 0.58 3
26-30 0-8 292 0.02 ± 0.01 0.46 4.8 0.34 0.09  
  9-12 135 0.03 ± 0.01 0.96 8.1 0.41 0.30  
  13+ 532 0.03 ± 0.01 0.96 2.6 1.16 1.25 4
31-35 0-8 186   0.14 4.3 0.08 0.06 
  9-12 82 0.05 ± 0.02 1.38 6.1 0.75 0.70  
  13 + 301 0.02 ± 0.01 0.75 3.0 0.66 0.10 4
36-40 0-8 143   0.30 2.8 0.24 0.08 
  9-12 58 0.02 ± 0.01 0.73 3.4 0.55 0.75  
  13 + 189  0.89 2.8   0.10 
41-45 0-8 100   0.08 3.0 0.05 0.07 
  13 + 138  1.64 2.2 1.47 0.10  

Median frequencies for the total populations are uniformly 0.00.
Figure 105. Homosexual outlet,
by educational level and occupational class

“Educ. level 0-8” are the males who never go beyond grade school.
“Educ. level 9-12” are the males who enter high school but never go beyond.
“Educ. level 13+” are the males who will ultimately go to college.
Occupational Class:
0. Dependents 1. Underworld
2. Day labor 3. Semi-skilled labor 4. Skilled labor
5. Lower white collar group 6. Upper white collar group 7. Professional group
8. Business executive group 9. Extremely wealthy group

For single males of the age group 16-20.
Relative lengths of bars compare mean frequencies for the groups.
Note similarity of data based on educational levels and data based on occupational classes.

The active incidence figures are highest among single males of the high school level (Table 90). In the late teens nearly every other male of this level (41%) is having some homosexual contact, and between the ages of 26 and 30 it is had by 46 per cent of the group. Among the males of the grade school level about 1 in 4 (22 to 27%) has any homosexual experience in any age period of the pre-marital years. Among the males who belong to the college level only about 1 in 5 has homosexual experience between adolescence and 15 (22%), 1 in 6 (16%) has such relations in the later teens, and less than 1 in 10 (10%) has homosexual relations between the ages of 21 and 25. Among males who never go beyond grade school, about the same number of individuals is involved while they are actually in grade school, during their late teens when they are out of school, and in all the subsequent years until they marry. Among the males who stop their schooling at high school levels a larger number is involved after they have left school. For the males who belong to the college level, the largest number is involved while they are in high school, but the number steadily decreases in later years.

Between adolescence and fifteen years of age, homosexual contacts to orgasm were more common in the sample of high school females and in the limited sample of grade school females. However, between the ages of twenty-one and thirty-five, while the active incidences stood at something between 3 and 6 per cent among the high school females, they had risen to something between 7 and 11 per cent in the college and graduate school groups.

Frequency to Orgasm
Homosexual activity in the human male is much more frequent than is ordinarily realized. In the youngest unmarried group, more than a quarter (27.3%) of the males have some homosexual activity to the point of orgasm (Table 58, Figures 83-88). The incidence among these single males rises in successive age groups until it reaches a maximum of 38.7 per cent between 36 and 40 years of age.

Tables 57-58. Total heterosexual intercourse, total homosexual outlet, and age
Age
Group		 Cases Sample Population U. S. Population
Total population Active Population Total
population		 Active Population
Mean
Frequency		 Me-
dian
Freq.		 % of
Total
Outlet		 Incid.
%		 Mean
Frequency		 Me-
dian
Freq.		 % of
Total
Outlet		 Mean
Freq.		 % of
Total
Outlet		 Incid.
%		 Mean
Freq.		 % of
Total
Outlet
Single Males: Total Heterosexual Intercourse
Adol.-15 3925 0.34 ± 0.02 0.00 14.51 21.7 1.56 ± 0.09 0.56 36.18 ± 1.61 0.79 26.17 39.9 1.98 43.38
16-20 3739 0.67 ± 0.03 0.02 27.91 53.6 1.25 ± 0.05 0.41 35.41 ± 0.77 1.35 42.82 73.7 1.84 50.97
21-25 2121 0.75 ± 0.04 0.07 33.38 60.7 1.24 ± 0.07 0.43 38.75 ± 0.99 1.37 50.33 75.0 1.82 55.64
26-30 607 1.00 ± 0.08 0.21 34.37 66.1 1.51 ± 0.12 0.73 49.29 ± 1.78 1.34 45.44 75.4 1.77 57.11
31-35 223 1.02 ± 0.13 0.30 36.11 67.7 1.50 ± 0.18 0.78 58.46 ± 2.80 1.11 45.12 72.2 1.53 62.84
36-40 110 0.92 ± 0.16 0.29 33.83 70.0 1.32 ± 0.22 0.57 57.68 ± 4.14 1.00 43.72 80.8 1.23 59.66
41-45 61 0.75 ± 0.17 0.23 33.75 65.6 1.14 ± 0.25 0.49 66.56 ± 5.34 .... .... .... .... ....
46-50 36 0.61 ± 0.16 0.16 30.58 66.7 0.91 ± 0.22 0.40 66.33 ± 6.77 .... .... .... .... ....
Single Males: Total Homosexual Outlet
Adol.-15 3012 0.14 ± 0.01 0.00 4.89 24.8 0.56 ± 0.04 0.10 12.13 ± 0.71 0.22 7.03 27.3 0.81 17.46
16-20 2868 0.13 ± 0.01 0.00 4.70 21.6 0.62 ± 0.05 0.11 13.25 ± 0.82 0.26 7.84 31.0 0.85 17.73
21-25 1535 0.16 ± 0.02 0.00 5.98 14.5 1.09 ± 0.12 0.40 25.45 ± 1.95 0.35 11.81 27.5 1.30 30.31
26-30 550 0.37 ± 0.06 0.00 14.31 25.1 1.48 ± 0.21 0.73 37.00 ± 2.80 0.58 19.68 35.8 1.61 35.20
31-35 195 0.51 ± 0.14 0.00 21.94 30.3 1.68 ± 0.42 0.96 46.90 ± 4.31 0.45 22.61 33.0 1.69 45.75
36-40 97 0.44 ± 0.09 0.00 21.74 40.2 1.09 ± 0.18 0.67 42.17 ± 5.32 0.41 22.01 38.7 1.06 40.42
41-45 56 0.44 ± 0.14 0.00 25.51 37.5 1.18 ± 0.32 0.50 42.17 ± 7.24 .... .... .... .... ....
46-50 39 0.61 ± 0.20 0.00 32.64 35.9 1.69 ± 0.43 1.25 54.25 ± 9.08 .... .... .... .... ....
Married Males: Total Heterosexual Intercourse
16-20 279 4.27 ± 0.27 2.78 91.31 100.0 4.27 ± 0.27 2.78 91.64 ± 0.81 4.51 92.22 100.0 4.51 92.53
21-25 766 3.46 ± 0.14 2.44 89.96 99.9 3.46 ± 0.14 2.44 89.54 ± 0.61 3.73 91.66 100.0 3.73 91.97
26-30 792 2.90 ± 0.11 2.16 88.83 99.7 2.91 ± 0.11 2.16 89.17 ± 0.59 3.17 91.05 99.8 3.18 90.99
31-35 623 2.48 ± 0.10 1.89 88.76 99.7 2.49 ± 0.10 1.89 89.45 ± 0.65 2.72 91.76 99.9 2.72 91.66
36-40 442 2.22 ± 0.11 1.72 89.72 99.1 2.24 ± 0.11 1.73 90.87 ± 0.69 2.28 93.29 99.0 2.32 93.31
41-45 306 1.89 ± 0.11 1.46 89.00 99.7 1.89 ± 0.11 1.46 91.56 ± 0.79 2.04 93.78 99.9 2.04 94.43
46-50 197 1.76 ± 0.14 1.11 89.57 98.0 1.79 ± 0.14 1.16 90.33 ± 1.22 1.87 94.25 98.0 1.91 93.09
51-55 123 1.49 ± 0.16 0.94 88.43 97.6 1.53 ± 0.17 0.97 90.50 ± 1.41 1.48 94.14 96.4 1.54 94.45
56-60 73 1.09 ± 0.13 0.79 92.09 97.3 1.12 ± 0.13 0.82 91.31 ± 2.11 .... .... .... .... ....
Married Males: Total Homosexual Outlet
16-20 272 0.10 ± 0.04 0.00 2.21 8.5 1.20 ± 0.41 0.32 9.20 ± 2.19 0.11 2.31 9.3 1.25 8.25
21-25 751 0.03 ± 0.01 0.00 0.83 7.5 0.43 ± 0.10 0.09 7.60 ± 2.16 0.04 0.86 10.6 0.37 4.69
26-30 737 0.02 ± 0.01 0.00 0.69 4.6 0.48 ± 0.11 0.13 11.38 ± 3.54 0.03 0.75 6.9 0.38 6.91
31-35 569 0.02 ± 0.01 0.00 0.67 3.9 0.47 ± 0.14 0.09 10.50 ± 4.53 0.02 0.72 4.8 0.47 9.11
36-40 390 0.02 ± 0.01 0.00 0.67 2.8 0.57 ± 0.33 0.10 7.55 ± 2.52 0.01 0.53 2.8 0.42 9.04
41-45 272 0.02 ± 0.02 0.00 0.86 2.2 0.76 ± 0.71 0.07 5.50 ± 4.52 0.01 0.33 2.1 0.22 2.34
46-50 175 .... 0.00 1.41 1.7 1.47 ± 1.42 0.10 12.17 ± 10.45 0.01 0.40 1.2 0.52 6.07
In this, and in the succeeding charts in this and the following chapter, means and medians represent average frequencies per week.
     “% of Total Outlet” in the total population shows what portion of the total number of orgasms is derived from masturbation in the total population.
A total of such figures for all the possible sources of outlet equals 100%, which is the total outlet of the group.
     “% of Total Outlet” for the active population represents the mean of the figures showing the percentage of the total outlet
which is derived from this source by each individual who has any masturbation in his history, in that particular age period.
The percents for the several possible outlets do not total 100% because different individuals are involved in the populations utilizing each type of outlet.

U. S. population figures are corrections of the raw data for a population whose age, marital status, and educational level
are the same as those shown in the U. S. Census for 1940.

High frequencies do not occur as often in the homosexual as they do in some other kinds of sexual activity (Table 49). Populations are more homogeneous in regard to this outlet. This may reflect the difficulties involved in having frequent and regular relations in a socially taboo activity. Nevertheless, there are a few of the younger adolescent males who have homosexual frequencies of 7 or more per week, and between 26 and 30 the maximum frequencies run to 15 per week. By 50 years of age the most active individual is averaging only 5.0 per week.

Tables 63, 66. Total heterosexual intercourse and total homosexual outlet in relation to marital status and age
Age
Group		 Total Sample Population
Cases Mean Frequency % of Total Outlet
Sin-
gle		 Mar-
ried		Post-
mar-
ital		 Sin-
gle		 Mar-
ried		Post-
mar
ital		 Sin-
gle		 Mar-
ried		 Post-
mar-
ital
Total Heterosexual Intercourse

Adol.-15

3925

0.34

14.51

16-20

3739

279

48

0.67

4.27

3.06

27.91

91.31

82.28

21-25

2121

766

150

0.75

3.46

3.08

33.38

89.96

80.12

26-30

607

792

192

1.00

2.90

2.28

34.37

88.83

80.11

31-35

223

623

171

1.02

2.48

1.58

36.11

88.76

81.63

36-40

110

442

146

0.92

2.22

1.37

33.83

89.72

82.45

41-45

61

306

107

0.75

1.89

1.22

33.75

89.00

76.78

46-50

36

197

72

0.61

1.76

1.05

30.58

89.57

75.64

51-55

123

43

1.49

0.96

88.43

84.38

56-60

73

33

1.09

0.62

92.09

Total Homosexual Outlet

Adol.-15

3012

0.14

4.89

16-20

2868

272

46

0.13

0.10

0.18

4.70

2.21

4.44

21-25

1535

751

119

0.16

0.03

0.28

5.98

0.83

7.82

26-30

550

737

182

0.37

0.02

0.16

14.31

0.69

5.38

31-35

195

569

158

0.51

0.02

0.10

21.94

0.67

5.13

36-40

97

390

128

0.44

0.02

0.05

21.74

0.67

2.93

41-45

56

272

96

0.44

0.02

0.07

25.51

0.86

4.40

46-50

39

175

63

0.61

32.64

1.41

51-55

109

42

0.81

56-60

67

Age
Group		 Active Cases in Sample Population
Incidence % Mean Frequency % of Total Outlet
Sin-
gle		 Mar-
ried		Post-
mar
ital		 Sin-
gle		 Mar-
ried		Post-
mar
ital		 Sin-
gle		 Mar-
ried		 Post-
mar
ital
Total Heterosexual Intercourse

Adol.-15

21.7

1.56

36.18

16-20

53.6

100.0

95.8

1.25

4.27

3.19

35.41

91.64

81.64

21-25

60.7

99.9

94.7

1.24

3.46

3.26

38.75

89.54

79.48

26-30

66.1

99.7

95.3

1.51

2.91

2.39

49.29

89.17

78.60

31-35

67.7

99.7

91.2

1.50

2.49

1.73

58.46

89.45

80.92

36-40

70.0

99.1

91.8

1.32

2.24

1.49

57.68

90.87

80.37

41-45

65.6

99.7

86.0

1.14

1.89

1.42

66.56

91.56

85.09

46-50

66.7

98.0

81.9

0.91

1.79

1.28

66.33

90.33

83.25

51-55

97.6

88.4

1.53

1.09

90.50

84.18

56-60

97.3

78.8

1.12

0.79

91.31

88.00
Total Homosexual Outlet

Adol.-15

24.8

0.56

12.13

16-20

21.6

8.5

28.3

0.62

1.20

0.63

13.25

9.20

9.54

21-25

14.5

7.5

26.9

1.09

0.43

1.06

25.45

7.60

18.94

26-30

25.1

4.6

17.6

. 1.48

0.48

0.89

37.00

11.38

18.70

31-35

30.3

3.9

10.8

1.68

0.47

0.93

46.90

10.50

25.79

36-40

40.2

2.8

6.2

1.09

0.57

0.80

42.17

7.55

14.56

41-45

37.5

2.2

5.2

1.18

0.76

1.25

42.17

5.50

22.50

46-50

35.9

1.7

1.69

1.47

54.25

12.17

51-55

1.8

0.68

15.50

Age
Group		 Corrected for U. S. Population
Total Population Active Population
Mean
Frequency		 % of Total
Outlet		 Incidence
%		 Mean
Frequency		 % of Total
Outlet
Sin-
gle		 Mar-
ried		 Sin-
gle		 Mar-
ried		 Sin-
gle		 Mar-
ried		 Sin-
gle		 Mar-
ried		 Sin-
gle		 Mar-
ried
Total Heterosexual Intercourse

Adol.-15

0.79

26.17

39.9

1.98

43.38

16-20

1.35

4.51

42.82

92.22

73.7

100.0

1.84

4.51

50.97

92.53

21-25

1.37

3.73

50.33

91.66

75.0

100.0

1.82

3.73

55.64

91.97

26-30

1.34

3.17

45.44

91.05

75.4

99.8

1.77

3.18

57.11

90.99

31-35

1.11

2.72

45.12

91.76

72.2

99.9

1.53

2.72

62.84

91.66

36-40

1.00

2.28

43.72

93.29

80.8

99.0

1.23

2.32

59.66

93.31

41-45

2.04

93.78

99.9

2.04

94.43

46-50

1.87

94.25

98.0

1.91

93.09

51-55

1.48

94.14

96.4

1.54

94.45
Total Homosexual Outlet

Adol.-15

0.22

7.03

27.3

0.81

17.46

16-20

0.26

0.11

7.84

2.31

31.0

9.3

0.85

1.25

17.73

8.25

21-25

0.35

0.04

11.81

0.86

27.5

10.6

1.30

0.37

30.31

4.69

26-30

0.58

0.03

19.68

0.75

35.8

6.9

1.61

0.38

35.20

6.91

31-35

0.45

0.02

22.61

0.72

33.0

4.8

1.69

0.47

45.75

9.11

36-40

0.41

0.01

22.01

0.53

38.7

2.8

1.06

0.42

40.42

9.04

41-45

0.33

2.1

0.22

2.34

46-50

0.40

1.2

0.52

6.07

51-55

0.29

1.6

0.20

5.82

Data for the U. S. population are based on the sample population
which is corrected for the distribution of educational levels shown in the U. S. Census for 1940.
For sigmas of means, median frequencies, etc., see the Tables 57-58.





Figures 83-88. Relation of age and marital status to
                                        total heterosexual intercourse and total homosexual outlet





For single, active populations, the mean frequencies of homosexual contacts (Table 58, Figures 83-88) rise more or less steadily from near once per week (0.8 per week) for the younger adolescent boys to nearly twice as often (1.7 per week) for males between the ages of 31 and 35. They stand above once a week through age 50.

Among the unmarried females in the sample who had ever experienced orgasm from contacts with other females, the average (active median) frequencies of orgasm among the younger adolescent girls who were having contacts had averaged nearly once in five weeks (about 0.2 per week), and they had increased in frequency among the older females who were not yet married. In the late twenties they had averaged once in two and a half weeks (0.4 per week), and had stayed on about that level for the next ten years. This means that the active median frequencies of orgasm derived from the homosexual contacts had been higher than the active median frequencies of orgasm derived from nocturnal dreams and from heterosexual petting, and about the same as the active median frequencies of orgasm attained in masturbation.
The limited frequency data previously published were not calculated on any basis comparable to our 5-year calculations.

The active mean frequencies were three to six times higher than the active median frequencies, because of the fact that there were some females in each age group whose frequencies were notably higher than those of the median females. The individual variation had depended in part upon the fact that the frequencies of contact had varied, and in part upon the fact that some of these females had regularly experienced multiple orgasms in their homosexual contacts.

In most age groups, three-quarters or more of the single females who were having homosexual experience to the point of orgasm were having it with average frequencies of once or less per week. There were individuals, however, in every age group from adolescence to forty-five, who were having homosexual contacts which had led to orgasm on an average of seven or more per week. From ages twenty-one to forty there were a few individuals who had averaged ten or more and in one instance as many as twenty-nine orgasms per week from homosexual sources. In contrast to the record for most other types of sexual activities, the most extreme variation in the homosexual relationships had not occurred in the youngest groups, but in the groups aged thirty-one to forty.

Between adolescence and fifteen years of age, the active median frequencies of homosexual contacts to orgasm among the females in the sample were higher in the grade school and high school groups, and lower among the sexually more restrained young females of the upper educational levels. Subsequently these discrepancies had more or less disappeared, and after age twenty the frequencies had averaged once in two or three weeks for the median females of all the educational levels represented in the sample.

As in most other types of sexual activity among females (except coitus in marriage), the homosexual contacts had often occurred sporadically. Several contacts might be made within a matter of a few days, and then there might be no such contacts for a matter of weeks or months. In not a few instances the record was one of intense and frequently repeated contacts over a short period of days or weeks, with a lapse of several years before there were any more. On the other hand, there were a fair number of histories in which the homosexual partners had lived together and maintained regular sexual relationships for many years, and in some instances for as long as ten or fifteen years or even longer, and had had sexual contacts with considerable regularity throughout those years. Such long-time homosexual associations are rare among males. A steady association between two females is much more acceptable to our culture and it is, in consequence, a simpler matter for females to continue relationships for some period of years. The extended female associations are, however, also a product of differences in the basic psychology of females and males.

Among the married females in the sample, there were a few in each age group—usually not more than one in a hundred or so—who were having homosexual contacts to the point of orgasm. Even in those small active samples, however, the range of individual variation was considerable. Most of the married females had never had more than a few such contacts, but in nearly every age group there were married females who were having contacts with regular frequencies of once or twice or more per week. There were a few histories of married females who were completely homosexual and who were not having coitus with their husbands, although they continued to live with them as a matter of social convenience. In some of these cases there were good social adjustments between the spouses even though the sexual lives of each lay outside of the marriage.

Among the females in the sample who had been previously married and who were then widowed, separated, or divorced, the frequencies of homosexual experience were distinctly higher than among the married females. In some cases these females, after the dissolution of their marriages, had established homes with other women with whom they had then had their first homosexual contacts and with whom they subsequently maintained regular homosexual relationships. Some of the women had been divorced because of their homosexual interests, although homosexuality in the female is only rarely a factor in divorce. It should be emphasized, however, that a high proportion of the unmarried females who live together never have contacts which are in any sense sexual.

Percentage of Total Outlet
In the population as a whole, among boys in their teens, about 8 per cent of the total sexual outlet is derived from the homosexual. Calculating only for the single males who are actually participating, the average active male in his teens gets about 18 per cent of his outlet from that source, and the figure is increasingly higher until, at 50 years of age, the average male who is still single and actively involved gets 54 per cent of his outlet from the homosexual. This, and pre-marital intercourse with prostitutes, are the only sources of outlet which become an increasing part of the sexual activity of single males. For most other kinds of outlet, as we have shown, the figures drop with advancing age. Since there is a steady decline in frequency of total sexual outlet for the average male, and since there is an increase both in frequencies and in percentage of total outlet derived from the homosexual, it is obvious that this outlet acquires a definitely greater significance, and a very real significance, in the lives of most unmarried males who have anything at all to do with it. There is considerable conflict among younger males over participation in such socially taboo activity, and there is evidence that a much higher percentage of younger males is attracted and aroused than ever engages in overt homosexual activities to the point of orgasm. Gradually, over a period of years, many males who are aroused by homosexual situations become more frank in their acceptance and more direct in their pursuit of complete relations, although some of them are still much restrained by fear of blackmail.

Homosexual contacts are highly effective in bringing the female to orgasm. In spite of their relatively low incidence, they had accounted for an appreciable proportion of the total number of orgasms of the entire sample of unmarried females. Before fifteen years of age, the homosexual contacts had been surpassed only by masturbation and heterosexual coitus as sources of outlet, and they were again in that position among the still single females after age thirty. Among these single females, orgasms obtained from homosexual contacts had accounted for some 4 per cent of the total outlet of the younger adolescent females, some 7 per cent of the outlet of the unmarried females in their early twenties, and some 19 per cent of the total outlet of the females who were still unmarried in their late thirties.

Among the younger teen-age girls, 14 per cent of the orgasms of the grade school group had come from homosexual contacts, while only 1 or 2 per cent of the orgasms of the college and graduate groups had come from such sources. Subsequently, these differences were reversed, and between thirty and forty years of age the still unmarried females of the graduate group were deriving 18 to 21 per cent of their total outlet from homosexual sources. If one-fifth of the outlet of this group came from homosexual sources, and only a little more than one-tenth (11 per cent) of the females in the group were having such activity, it is evident that the females who were having homosexual experience were reaching orgasm more frequently than those who were depending on other types of sexual activity for their outlet.

Among married males the highest incidences of homosexual activity appear to occur between the ages of 16 and 25, when nearly 10 per cent of the total population of married males (U.S. Correction) is involved (Table 66, Figure 85). The available data seem to indicate that the percentage steadily drops with advancing age, but we have already suggested that these figures are probably unreliable. Younger, unmarried males have regularly given us some record of sexual contacts with older, married males.

Many married males with homosexual experience currently in their histories have, undoubtedly, avoided us, and it has usually been impossible to secure hundred percent groups of older married males, especially from males of assured social position, primarily because of the extra-marital \ intercourse which they often have, and sometimes because some of them have active homosexual histories. Homosexual contact as an extra-marital activity is recorded by about 10 per cent of the teen-age and young 20-year old married males. About 10 per cent of the lower level married males have admitted homosexual experience between the ages of 16 and 20. About 13 per cent of the high school level has admitted such experience after marriage and between the ages of 21 and 25. Only 3 per cent of the married males of college level have admitted homosexual experience after marriage—mostly between the ages of 31 and 35. By 50 years of age, it is admitted by only 1 per cent of the still married males, but this latter figure is undoubtedly below the fact. It has been impossible to calculate accumulative incidence figures for these several groups, but they must lie well above the active incidence figures just cited. Average frequencies fluctuate between once a week to once in two or three weeks for the married males who have any such contacts; and there is no distinct age trend. From 4 to 9 per cent of the total outlet of these married males is drawn from the homosexual source, but again there is no apparent age trend.

Among the married females in the sample, homosexual contacts had usually accounted for less than one-half of one per cent of all their orgasms.

However, among the females who had been previously married, homosexual contacts had become somewhat more important again as a source of outlet. They had accounted for something around 2 per cent of the total outlet of the younger females in the group, and for nearly 10 per cent of the outlet of the females who were in their early thirties.

Number of Years Involved
For most of the females in the sample, the homosexual activity had been limited to a relatively short period of time. For nearly a third (32 per cent) of those who had had any experience, the experience had not occurred more than ten times, and for many it had occurred only once or twice. For nearly a half (47 per cent, including part of the above 32 per cent), the experience had been confined to a single year or to a part of a single year. For another quarter (25 per cent), the activity had been spread through two or three years. These totals, interesting to note, had not materially differed between females who were in the younger, and females who were in the older age groups at the time they contributed their histories. This means that for most of them, most of the homosexual activity had occurred in the younger years. There were a quarter (28 per cent) whose homosexual experience had extended for more than three years. There were histories of a few females whose activities had extended for as many as thirty or forty years, and more extended samples of older females would undoubtedly show cases which had continued for still longer periods of time.

Number of Partners
In the sample of single females, a high proportion (51 per cent) of those who had had any homosexual experience had had it with only a single partner, up to the time at which they had contributed their histories to the record. Another 20 per cent had had it with two different partners. Only 29 per cent had had three or more partners in their homosexual relations, and only 4 per cent had had more than ten partners.
Davis 1929:251 gives closely parallel data (63 per cent with one partner, 18 per cent with two partners, 19 per cent with three or more partners). Statistically unsupported impressions of a high degree of promiscuity in female homosexuality may be found in: Bloch 1908:530 (female homosexuals change partners more frequently than male homosexuals). Alibert 1926:22. Kisch 1926:192. Chideckel 1935:122. But the greater durability of relationships among female homosexuals is also noted in: Smitt 1951:102.

In this respect, the female homosexual record contrasts sharply with that for the male. Of the males in the sample who had had homosexual experience, a high proportion had had it with several different persons, and 22 per cent had had it with more than ten partners. Some of them had had experience with scores and in many instances with hundreds of different partners. Apparently, basic psychologic factors account for these differences in the extent of the promiscuity of the female and the male.

Homosexual activities occur in a much higher percentage of the males who became adolescent at an early age; and in a definitely smaller percentage of those who became adolescent at later ages (Tables 77, 78,. Figure 94). For instance, at the college level, during early adolescence about 28 per cent of the early-adolescent boys are involved, and only 14 per cent of the boys who were late in becoming adolescent. This difference is narrowed in successive age periods, but the boys who became adolescent first are more often involved even ten and fifteen years later. It is to be recalled (Chapter 9) that these early-adolescent boys are the same ones who have the highest incidences and frequencies in masturbation and in heterosexual contacts. It is the group which possesses on the whole the greatest sex drive, both in early adolescence and throughout most of the subsequent periods of their lives.

There do not seem to be any consistent correlations between either the accumulative incidences, the active incidences, or the frequencies of homosexual contacts, and the ages at which the females in the sample had turned adolescent. Among males we found that those who turned adolescent at earlier ages were more often involved in homosexual contacts as well as in masturbation and pre-marital heterosexual contacts. The absence of such a correlation among females may be significant.

In the available sample there seems to be little or nothing in the accumulative or active incidences, or the frequencies of the homosexual contacts, which suggests that there is any correlation with the occupational classes of the homes in which the females were raised. There is only minor evidence that the accumulative incidences of contacts to the point of orgasm may have involved a slightly higher percentage of the females who came from upper white collar homes, and a smaller percentage of those who came from the homes of laboring groups—at age forty, a matter of 14 per cent in the first instance, and under 10 per cent in the second instance.

The active incidences in the younger age groups were higher among the females who had come from the homes of laborers; but after the age of twenty the differences had largely disappeared, and after the age of twenty-five the females who had come from upper white collar homes were the ones most often involved.

Table 123. Homosexual outlet and rural-urban background
Age
Group		 Rural-
Urban
Group		 Cases Homosexual Outlet: Rural, Urban
Total Population Active Population
Mean
Frequency		 Me-
dian
Freq.		 % of
Total
Outlet		 Incid.
%		 Mean
Frequency		 Me-
dian
Freq.
Single Males: Educational Level 0-8

Adol.-15

Rural

245

0.18 ± 0.039

0.00

7.7

18.4

0.98 ± 0.17

0.46

Urban

401

0.32 ± 0.051

0.00

9.5

28.4

1.12 ± 0.16

0.44

16-20

Rural

259

0.21 ± 0.054

0.00

7.4

21.2

0.97 ± 0.23

0.37

Urban

397

0.26 ± 0.037

0.00

7.6

32.0

0.81 ± 0.10

0.34

21-25

Rural

141

0.26 ± 0.11

0.00

9.4

17.0

1.52 ± 0.61

0.43

Urban

188

0.26 ± 0.058

0.00

7.9

28.7

0.91 ± 0.17

0.41

26-30

Rural

61

0.53 ± 0.33

0.00

18.0

19.7

2.71 ± 1.57

0.75

Urban

88

0.34 ± 0.097

0.00

11.6

35.2

0.98 ± 0.24

0.44
Single Males: Educational Level 9-12

Adol.-15

Rural

124

0.26 ± 0.13

0.00

9.6

20.2

1.30 ± 0.60

0.10

Urban

459

0.32 ± 0.037

0.00

9.3

37.9

0.84 ± 0.09

0.33

16-20

Rural

124

0.10 ± 0.031

0.00

3.2

25.8

0.39 ± 0.10

0.08

Urban

458

0.50 ± 0.060

0.00

14.1

46.7

1.07 ± 0.12

0.37

21-25

Rural

50

0.10 ± 0.051

0.00

3.9

24.0

0.40 ± 0.19

0.09

Urban

209

0.69 ± 0.13

0.00

22.4

42.6

1.61 ± 0.27

0.89
Single Males: Educational Level 13+

Adol.-15

Rural

352

0.08 ± 0.019

0.00

2.7

21.3

0.36 ± 0.08

0.09

Urban

•2587

0.09 ± 0.008

0.00

3.2

21.8

0.41 ± 0.03

0.09

16-20

Rural

363

0.05 ± 0.013

0.00

2.1

16.8

0.32 ± 0.07

0.09

Urban

2640

0.07 ± 0.008

0.00

2.4

15.8

0.42 ± 0.04

0.08

21-25

Rural

266

0.06 ± 0.022

0.00

2.8

9.4

0.62 ± 0.21

0.15

Urban

1753

0.09 ± 0.012

0.00

3.4

10.1

0.85 ± 0.10

0.24

26-30

Rural

85

0.10 ± 0.042

0.00

4.9

15.3

0.68 ± 0.22

0.39

Urban

445

0.22 ± 0.036

0.00

8.3

16.9

1.30 ± 0.16

0.63

Homosexual activities occur less frequently among rural groups and more frequently among those who live in towns or cities (Table 123). On the other hand, it has already been pointed out (Chapter 12) that this is a product not only of the greater opportunity which the city may provide for certain types of homosexual contacts, but also of the generally lower rate of total outlet among males raised on the farm. It has also been pointed out that in certain of the most remote rural areas there is considerable homosexual activity among lumbermen, cattlemen, prospectors, miners, hunters, and others engaged in out-of-door occupations. The homosexual activity rarely conflicts with their heterosexual relations, and is quite without the argot, physical manifestations, and other affectations so often found in urban groups. There is a minimum of personal disturbance or social conflict over such activity. It is the type of homosexual experience which the explorer and pioneer may have had in their histories.

The accumulative incidences of homosexual contacts to the point of orgasm were a bit higher among the city-bred females in the sample. The active incidences appear to have been a bit higher among the rural females in their teens, but they were higher among urban females after the age of twenty. The data, however, are insufficient to warrant final conclusions.

The educational levels and religious backgrounds of the females in the sample were the social factors which were most markedly correlated with the incidences of their homosexual activity.

In the Protestant, Catholic, and Jewish groups on which we have samples, fewer of the devout females were involved in homosexual contacts to the point of orgasm, and distinctly more of the females who were least devout religiously. For instance, by thirty-five years of age among the Protestant females some 7 per cent of the religiously devout had had homosexual relations to orgasm, but 17 per cent of those who were least actively identified with the church had had such relations. The differences were even more marked in the Catholic groups: by thirty-five years of age, only 5 per cent of the devoutly Catholic females had had homosexual relations to the point of orgasm, but some 25 per cent of those who were only nominally connected with the church. The differences between the Jewish groups lay in the same direction.

There is little doubt that moral restraints, particularly among those who were most actively connected with the church, had kept many of the females in the sample from beginning homosexual contacts, just as some were kept from beginning heterosexual activities. On the other hand, as we have already noted, some of the females had become involved in homosexual activities because they were restrained by the religious codes from making pre-marital heterosexual contacts, and such devout individuals had sometimes become so disturbed in their attempt to reconcile their behavior and their moral codes that they had left the church, thereby increasing the incidences of homosexual activity among the religiously inactive groups.

In eleven out of the twelve groups on which we have data available for comparisons, the active incidences of homosexual contacts to the point of orgasm were lower among the more devout females and higher among those who were religiously least devout. For instance, among the younger adolescent groups, there were 3 per cent of the devoutly Catholic females who were having homosexual relations to the point of orgasm, but 8 per cent of the inactive Catholics. Similarly, at ages twenty-six to thirty, among the still unmarried Protestant groups, 5 per cent of the more devout females were involved, but 13 per cent of the least devout females.

In the sample, there does not seem to have been any consistent correlation between the active median frequencies of homosexual activities and the religious backgrounds of the females in the various groups.

The percentage of the total outlet which had been derived by the various groups of females from their homosexual relations was, in most instances, correlated with the number of females (the active incidences) who were involved in such activity; but among the religiously more devout females, and especially in the older age groups, the percentage of the total outlet derived from homosexual sources was in excess and often in considerable excess of what the incidences might have led one to expect. This had depended in part upon the fact that an unusually large number of the religiously devout were not reaching orgasm in any sort of sexual activity, and for those who had accepted homosexual relations and reached orgasm in them, those relations had become a chief source of all the orgasms experienced by the group. It is also possible that a selective factor was involved, and that the sexually more responsive females were the ones who had most often accepted homosexual relations.

On the whole, homosexual contacts occur most frequently among the males who are not particularly active in their church connections. They occur less frequently among devout Catholics, Orthodox Jewish groups, and Protestants who are active in the church. The differences are not always great, but lie constantly in the same direction.

Figure 112. Comparisons of accumulative incidence for older and younger generations:
homosexual outlet.

All curves based on total life span, irrespective of marital status.
Figure shows homosexual outlet, masturbation and total intercourse for males of the college level (13+).
Median age difference between the two generations is 22 years.


Finally, it should be noted that there is no evidence that the homosexual involves more males or, for that matter, fewer males today than it did among older generations, at least as far back as the specific record in the present study goes (Tables 100, 104, Figure 112).

In the available sample, the accumulative incidences of homosexual contacts to the point of orgasm had been very much the same for the females who were born in the four decades on which we have data. There is no evidence that there are any more females involved in homosexual contacts today than there were in the generation born before 1900 or in any of the intermediate decades. Similarly, the number of females having homosexual contacts in particular five-year periods of their lives (the active incidences), the frequencies of such contacts, and the percentages of the total outlet which had been derived from homosexual contacts, do not seem to have varied in any consistent fashion during the four decades covered by the sample.
Statistically unsubstantiated statements that female homosexuality is on the increase may be found, for instance, in: Parke 1906:319. Havelock Ellis 1915 (2):261-262. Potter 1933:6-9, 150. McPartland 1947:143, 150. Norton 1949: 61.

It is not immediately obvious why this, among all other types of sexual activity, should have been unaffected by the social forces which led to the marked increase in the incidences of masturbation, heterosexual petting, pre-marital coitus, and even nocturnal dreams among American females immediately after the first World War, and which have kept these other activities on the new levels or have continued to keep them rising since then.

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