Accounting for margin of error it may be more accurate to say there are roughly equal numbers of self-identified gay and bisexual men. Even still, this looks very little like the trend for women and would seem to go against the common idea of how people are distributed along the sexuality spectrum. Why do you guys think this might be?
Source is a Gallup poll from 2021. You can find their write up here: https://news.gallup.com/poll/389792/lgbt-identification-ticks-up.aspx
Hi. Bi dude here. The LGBTQIA+ community is really not all that accepting of bisexuals, but does tend to be a bit more accepting of bisexual women. Bisexuals often get treated like we’re fence sitting, like we havent accepted that we’re actually gay or actually straight. And so we’re clear, that’s not a universal statement, but it is an experience that a lot of bisexuals experience within the LGBTQIA+ community
Doesn’t help that a lot of this gets internalized, I think. Like, fuck, there are plenty of terms that seem reasonably descriptive of me (bi, demi, enby, etc.) but… I’m super straight passing, and not super driven by sex or romantic relationships, so it’s like… I never really have to deal with these labels in my day-to-day? I stick he/they in stuff when people ask for pronouns, style myself somewhat androgynously, am well aware 90s David Boreanaz is objectively eye-candy, and I haven’t gone on a date in… years, because I just don’t really care. But claiming those labels feels improper, somehow. Both from a “born and raised christian, que toxic masculinity and internalized homophobia” perspective and a “I am in a position of extreme privilege where I haven’t had to face many of the struggles common to the LGBTQIA+ community, claiming a place there seems insulting” perspective. /shurg
Tons of straight men have had gay interactions.
Many guys will find another man attractive but will not admit that to a third party, or often even themselves, so of those who are willing to identify themselves to the survey, they will tend to be the most comfortable. Those who aren’t comfortable will continue pretending to be entirely straight when asked.
Bi stigma is a thing.
And many bi guys tend to have more sex with men, just because it’s less time consuming and less personal interaction required to make it happen, so even if a man is willing to have sex with a women, they might just identify as gay because of the skew of their partners.
