|
V. The Myth
That 10% of the Population Are Homosexual
The Kinsey
Institute’s statistic that 10% of the American population are homosexual
is false. It was based on faulty research. More recent scientific
studies have consistently shown that less than 1 up to just under 2
percent of the male population are exclusively homosexual. For example,
according to USA Today of April 15, 1993:
The notion that 10% of men
are gay—born in the studies of Alfred Kinsey and popularized by
activists—is dying under the weight of new studies. In the latest,
only 2.3% of U.S. men ages 20 to 39 say they’ve had a same-sex
experience in the past decade. Only 1.1% say they have been
exclusively gay.
The survey of 3,321 men is
published today in the Alan Guttmacher Institute journal... the
findings are similar to other recent studies:
A 1989 U.S. survey
estimated no more than 6% of adults had any same-sex experiences and
less than 1% were exclusively homosexual.
A 1992 French study found
4% of men and 3% of women reported same-sex contacts; 1.4% of men and
0.4% of women said any occurred in the previous five years. (Emphasis
added)
The Wall
Street Journal for March 31, 1993 revealed:
...the one-in-ten figure is
routinely cited in academic works, sex education materials, government
reports and the media.... But there long has been much evidence that
the 10% estimate is far too high. Surveys with large samples from the
U.S., Canada, Britain, France, Norway, Denmark and other nations give
a picture of homosexuality experience rates of 6% or less, with
an exclusive homosexuality prevalence of 1% or less.
The most comprehensive
example is the continuing survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau
since 1988 for the National Center for Health Statistics of the
Centers for Disease Control.... the data strongly suggest that the
prevalence of even incidental homosexual behavior is less than 2% for
men.... a general population estimate for homosexuality would fall
below 1.5%....
The Wall
Street Journal points out that Paul and Kirk Cameron have written a
study, "The Prevalence of Homosexuality," (Psychological Reports,
in press). It summarizes over 30 surveys around the world with large,
plausibly unbiased samples.
· France:
A government survey of 20,055 adults (1991-92) revealed 1.4% of men
and 0.4% of women had had homosexual intercourse in the five years
preceding the survey. Exclusive lifetime homosexual rates were 0.7%
for men and 0.6% for women while lifetime homosexuality experience
was 4.1% for men and 2.6% for women.
· Britain:
only 1.4% of men had had homosexual contact
in the previous five years....
· United
States: A nationwide household sample of
1,537 adults conducted by the National Opinion Research Center at the
University of Chicago (1989) indicated that of sexually active adults
19 years of age and older, 1.2% of males and 1.2% of females claimed
homosexual activity in the preceding year.
Only 0.5% to 0.7% had exclusively homosexual partners.
· United
States: A stratified cluster sample from the
Minnesota Adolescent Health Survey (1986-87) of 36,741 public school
students (grades 7-12) showed that only 0.6% of the boys and 0.2%
of the girls identified themselves as "mostly or 100% homosexual";
0.7% of the boys and 0.8% of the girls identified themselves as
"bisexual"; and 10.1% of males and 11.3% of females were "unsure."
· Canada:
5,514 first-year college students under age 25 were part of nationwide
cluster random sample. This revealed 98% were heterosexual, 1%
bisexual, 1% homosexual.
· Norway:
A nationwide random mail sample of 6,155 adults age 18-60 (1987) found
that 0.9% of males and 0.9% of females had homosexual experiences
within three years of the survey.
VI. Why Do
Current Statistics Concerning the Number of Homosexuals so Drastically
Disagree with Kinsey’s 10% Figure?
1) His samples
were far from representative of the general population.
About 25% of Kinsey’s 5300
male subjects were former or present prisoners; a high percentage were
sex offenders (he had the histories of about 1400).
Many respondents were
recruited by Kinsey from sex lectures where they had gone to get the
answer to sex problems. Other respondents were recruited by underworld
figures and leaders of homosexual groups....1
2) Kinsey
never said that 10% of the population were homosexuals.
What he stated
was that 10% of men over age 16 engage in homosexual relationships
exclusively for periods lasting only up to three years.2
Current statistics show that he was in error even with these figures.
VII. Can
Homosexuals Change?
If it can be
shown that practicing lifetime homosexuals do change their sexual
orientation, this is a devastating blow to the homosexual movement. This
is what research reveals:
• Schwartz and
Masters (of the 1984 Masters and Johnson’s Institute Report) re- vealed
a 79.9% success rate of homosexuals changing their sexual orientation to
heterosexuality. Their five-year follow-up rate was an impressive
71.6%.3
• Dr. van den
Aardweg (1986) reported a 65% success rate.4
• Joe Dallas,
President of Exodus International, noted the following:
The fact remains that there
are many people who are homosexual and are dissatisfied with their
orientation and for those people who want to change, help is
available. Now, that is not just one man’s opinion here. We know that
from the writings of Masters and Johnson, Charles Socarides, Irving
Bieber, Dr. Elizabeth Moberly, Dr. Joseph Nicolosi. Dr. Lawrence
Hatterer, just to name a few.5
• Dr. Nicolosi
stated:
I have worked with about
175 men to date and I can say in terms of claims of cure that when the
men stay with me, in a matter of months they begin to experience
change in their life.6
Thus:
About half as many people
are ex-gays as [are] possessed by the homosexual habit. Many
exhomosexuals are involved in Homosexuals Anonymous or the host of
other programs that work to cure homosexuality. Just like Alcoholics
Anonymous, not everyone who attends these programs is cured. As with
alcoholism, it is essential that once stopped the habit never be fed,
and there are those who regress. Abandoning homosexual habits, like
quitting drinking, can be done and is done by tens of thousands each
year. Breaking homosexual habits without the assistance of religious
involvement is more problematic, but even conventional psychotherapy
claims about a 30% cure rate.7
If many
different researchers over the years have seen thousands of homosexuals
change to heterosexuality and if this has been personally attested to by
the homosexuals themselves and their spouses, on what basis can any
individual claim that homosexuals can never change?
According to
the Guttmacher Institute no more than 6% of adults had any same sex
experiences. In addition, less than 1% of adults were exclusively
homosexual. What this means is that 5% of adults with previous same sex
experiences were no longer homosexual. Isn’t it significant that
5% of those who have tried homosexuality are now ex-homosexuals? In
other words, this means there are actually more ex-homosexuals than
there are homosexuals.
In the 1983
Family Research Institute survey of 4,340 adults:
• 82% of those
currently lesbian and 66% of those currently gay said that they had
been in love with someone of the opposite sex,
• 67% of
lesbians and 54% of gays reported current sexual attractions to the
opposite sex,
• 85% of
lesbians and 54% of gays, as adults, had sexual relations with someone
of the opposite sex.
It would thus
seem there are more people who have tried and left homosexuality than
those who remain homosexuals.8
Irving Bieber
asserts, "We have followed some patients for as long as 10 years who
have remained exclusively heterosexual."9
Describing two books he has edited, Fantasy, Reality and the Creative
Arts and The Homosexualities in the Therapeutic Process, Dr.
Socarides observes, "These two books contain the work of over 30
psychoanalysis—eminent teachers and psychoanalysis and medical men
throughout this country—and they all attest to the fact that
homosexuality is a psychopathological condition that can be altered if
someone knows how to alter it."10
In conclusion,
no one can deny that the claims for biological determinism and a 10%
incidence of homosexuality have a great deal of political significance
because they have been used to "justify" an entire civil rights
movement. Unfortunately, these myths have fueled a social agenda that
has not been in the best interests of our nation.
Notes:
1 As reported in The
Wall Street Journal, 31 March 1993. See also Judith A. Reisman,
Edward W Eichel, et. al., Kinsey, Sex and Fraud: The Indoctrination
of a People (Lafayette, LA: Huntington House, 1990).
2 The Wall Street
Journal, ibid.; cf. "Homosexuality: The 10% Lie," Family
Research Report, May-June 1992 and recent materials from the
Family Research Institute.
3 Douglas A. Houck, "Case
Study Analysis of Homosexual to Heterosexual Transformation With
Overview of the Moberly Model" (Seattle, WA: Metanoya Ministries,
1988) in Cohen, Perpetuating Homosexual Myths, p. 9.
4 Cohen, p. 9.
5 Joe Dallas, taped
Interview for "The John Ankerberg Show."
6 Dr. Joseph Nicolosi,
taped Interview for "The John Ankerberg Show."
7 Family Research
Institute, What Causes Homosexuality and Can It Be Cured?
(Washington, DC: Family Research Institute), p. 5.
8 Family Research
Institute, Can "Homosexuals Change?"
9 In Joe Dallas, Desires
in Conflict: Answering the Struggle for Sexual Identity (Eugene,
OR: Harvest House, 1991), p. 116.
10 Dr. Charles Socarides,
taped Interview for "The John Ankerberg Show."
|
