A New Kinsey Report

Researchers look at gays

Sex Researcher Alfred Kinsey intended to do a study of U.S. homosexuals, but he died in 1956 before the survey could be launched. It took twelve more years for his successors at the Institute for Sex Research in Bloomington, Ind., to start that project and ten years to complete it. Along the way, the Kinsey-ites spent $1 million and conducted two-to five-hour interviews in the San Francisco Bay Area with 979 male and female homosexuals and a comparison group of 477 heterosexuals. The result of their labors is a tome called Homosexualities, to be published next month by Simon & Schuster ($12.95). While the book offers no stunning surprises, it does contain fascinating glimpses into the gay life, circa 1970, when all the interviewing was completed.

Among the findings:

> The happiest and best-adjusted homosexuals were those in a "close-coupled" relationship, the equivalent of a good heterosexual marriage.

> The surveyors judged 16% of all homosexual males to be "asexuals," apathetic loners with low self-esteem who have little or no interest in pursuing sexual contact.

> A quarter of the gays interviewed believe homosexuality is an emotional disorder. About one-third had seriously considered stopping all homosexual activity at least once in their lives.

The study, written by Psychologist Alan Bell and Sociologist Martin Weinberg, finds that lesbians have fewer problems and are less sexually active than male homosexuals. At the time, three-quarters of the women were involved in relatively stable relationships; the majority had fewer than ten homosexual partners over a lifetime, and venereal disease was virtually unknown (one reported case among 293 women). Only one-half of the men were in stable relationships; the average male reported sex acts with hundreds of men, and two-thirds had developed venereal disease at least once. Forty percent of the men had had more than 500 sex partners, and a quarter of them, as adults, had performed sex with boys under 16.

Lesbians were found to be nearly as well adjusted as the heterosexual women, though they scored slightly lower on self-esteem and were more prone to thoughts of suicide. Homosexual males, however, showed more signs of emotional damage than heterosexual men in nine areas of psychological distress, from depression to paranoia. Twenty percent of the gay men had attempted suicide, vs. 4% of the heterosexual males. Thirteen percent of the gay males, and 5% of females, were listed as "dysfunctional" --those tormented by their homosexuality and plagued with severe psychological, social and sexual problems.

Such findings are not unusual in research on homosexuals. Pro-homosexual spokesmen generally argue that gays are placed under heavy stress by an anti-homosexual society. The Kinsey researchers make this point but add a new wrinkle: the evaluation that gay males as a group are not as well adjusted as heterosexuals results from a minority of social misfits dragging down the average.

The study separates gays into five categories, or "homosexualities." Two of the categories, "close-coupled" and "functional" (confident, unattached "swinging singles"), score about as well on psychological ratings as heterosexuals. Those listed as "open-coupled," living together but tending to seek fulfillment outside the home, score almost as well. The sad-sack "asexuals" and "dysfunctionals" account for most of the psychological disturbances. Says the report: "It would appear that relatively large numbers of homosexual men manage their homosexuality with little difficulty, while a homosexual way of life is problematic for only a distinct minority." One problem with this analysis: the minority may be distinct, but it is hardly small. Of those male gays who could be classified, the Kinsey asexuals and dysfunctionals account for 40%. The proportion of troubled heterosexuals is not known, since researchers made no breakdown of the comparison group.

The Kinsey researchers are enormously proud of the new classification system. Says Bell: "It's the first time we have been able to develop a very comprehensive typology of homosexuals. It goes beyond all the old stuff about inserter and insertee, butch and femme." Not comprehensive enough, though, to cover more than 70% of those interviewed in the study; 283 of the 979 were left uncategorized because they did not seem to fit anywhere. A more basic problem with the study is that it is arriving years late, reporting attitudes that precede the rise of the women's and homosexual rights movements. For a book that stresses homosexuals' feelings about themselves, much of it reads more like history than current events.

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