FIRST SEX
The survey attempted to get an
impression of the age at which young gay people first experiment
with sex. The questionnaire asked all the respondents about
the age at which they first experienced each of the following:-
A) Sexual
feelings;
B) Snogging (deep, prolonged kissing);
C) Mutual masturbation;
D) Penetrative sex.
For B, C and D they were asked with
reference to members of the same sex and members of the opposite
sex. Unfortunately the heterosexual respondents were not
asked about attraction to the same sex. However two
indicated their attraction for the same sex in the question about
sexuality. The graph in figure 7 shows the relationship for each
individual between the age at which they first 'snogged', first
had sex in the form of mutual masturbation and first had
penetrative sex. It can be seen that thirteen out of the
twenty-six either had not, or did not admit to having had
penetrative sex.
The power of peer pressure
Two women and 17 men said they were
never attracted to the opposite sex however of these:-
·
2 women and 10 men had snogged a member of the opposite sex
·
2 men had masturbated with a member of the opposite sex
·
2 women and 3 men had had penetrative sex with a member of the
opposite sex.
More
than half the men who weren't attracted to women had 'snogged' a
woman.
All
the women who weren't attracted to men had experienced full
sexual intercourse with a man.
Comparisons between the
experiences of those identifying as heterosexual and those
identifying as homosexual or bisexual.
Although the survey made a distinction
between mutual masturbation and penetrative sex, very few who
identified as heterosexual reported masturbation with the
opposite sex any earlier than penetrative sex whereas mutual
masturbation was far more important for those reporting
homosexual experiences. So for gay and bisexual people it
was better to lump the two together for a simple definition of
'sex'
Although some people experience sex
early in their lives there is a surge of sexual activity around
16 for women and 15 for men.
As the heterosexuals were such small
samples it is difficult to be sure that they are representative
but it does seem that the heterosexuals generally embark upon
their sexual careers earlier than their gay peers.
50% of the population had experienced
sex of some sort as follows
·
Heterosexual men
by 16½
·
Gay and bisexual men
by 16½
·
Heterosexual women
by 16½
·
Lesbian and bisexual women
by 20½
It is important to note that
significant numbers are experiencing sex earlier. In
particular some gay men are sexually active in their early teens.
Half
the young gay and bisexual men report having had sex
with
other males when they were of school age
CLICK HERE TO RETURN TO THE INDEX PAGE