Dean's World

Dean: Yes, identifying oneself as gay is very different from taking part in homosexual sex. There may be a strong overlap (Love those Venn diagrams), but the terms do not define a formal 'identity'.

That's be an interesting Venn diagram to actually make. A lot of data's missing, of course, but still...

Actually, I think one's relative attraction to men is a measure of how "gay" one is. It's a continuum, not a two-value set, and not even a fixed value over time. We prefer to believe our identities are less complex than that though.

I don't know of any rigorous, peer-reviewed study that supports that claim although I'd be interested in seeing some. Got any?

Well homosexuality is, I suppose, the same everywhere. But in Iran gay male sex carries the death penalty and lesbians are lashed. In spite of that that there is an out for some.

Transsexuals and gay males—I don't think their culture makes a distinction—are legally allowed to have a gender change. It has been allowed by law and done for several decades, and with the blessing of many clerics.

Transsexuality and homosexuality are not the same, but one can be both because sexual preference has nothing to do with sexual identity. I.E. one can have a male to female gender change, and prefer sex with male, females or both. I think the way Iran looks at it is: If a male has a gender change and prefers males he would be considered gay before and straight after the surgery.

But this isn't much help to gays in Iran unless they are also transsexual. No gay male wants a gender change anymore than a straight male would.

In Feb 2005 I posted from an LA Times artice about this. Unfortunately my source link is no longer valid, but the gist of my point is backed up by a Wikipedia article.

I’m attracted to the opposite sex. But as far as I can tell, I don’t have a “heterosexual identity”. So it makes sense to me.

So maybe I agree with the Iranian dictator figurehead. I still want him dead, though.

The “gay pride” thing can really turn me off when it becomes more in-your-face.

It’s a wonderful thing to be free enough to be open and comfortable with your sexuality. And I’m happy our society has moved towards more openness and acceptance of all things sexual in the last 40 years or so.

But it quickly becomes annoying when folks center their lives around their sexuality (homo, hetero, or whatever), and flaunt it.

Dave S,

Well, I don't know of any studies, but as stated it's easily provable empirically; since I used the universal I only need to find one bisexual to disprove a purely binary situation.

Anyways, I think Arthur C Clarke had it close to right in "Songs of Distant Earth." People were rated some % hetero/homo; there's a scene where two men sleep (just sleep) together for warmth, and afterwards one of them jokes that people will think they had sex, and the other laughs and says after all he's "only 92%" hetero.