Gay And Bisexual Men In Their 70s Are More Sexually Active Than Ever: Study

Assumptions often persist that people over 70, particularly when they are single, do not engage in as much sexual activity with as many partners as those younger than them. However, a survey conducted by the University of East Anglia in Norwich England in conjunction with Kings College London and University College London yielded results that might surprise some.

Initially done as a survey into the spread of mpox, it ended up yielding interesting results and insights into the sex lives of bisexual and gay men in the UK over 70.

Done with a sample size of 5,000 people, this survey revealed, in spite of stereotypes, that many gay and bisexual men over 70 continue to have vibrant and active sex lives, often with multiple partners.

More Sex Than Straight People

This survey found that 17 per cent of gay and bisexual men surveyed reported being with more than one sexual partner over the last three weeks, with 25 per cent of men revealing they have more than one concurrent partner.

Compare this to the only two percent of straight people who reported more than one sexual partner and this begins to paint an incredibly interesting story.

Addressing these findings, lead researcher Dr Julii Brainard of the University of East Anglia’s Medical School stated, “Before this study, many models about sexually transmitted diseases assumed that everyone over a certain age, say 40 or 65, stopped being sexually active, or at least stopped having multiple partners”.

“Even at age 65-plus, the respondents recruited via social media still tended to have more sexual contact than the general population sample at the same age,” she went on to say, emphasising the surprisingly active sex lives of older queer men.

Age Has Nothing To Do With Sex

The survey also found that straight women over 50 were the least sexually active. This data, however, did not reveal the sexual habits of trans people and bisexual/lesbian women as the mpox virus did not impact them as much as it did gay and bisexual men.

“Further research into other minority sexualities and gender identities could be beneficial to better understand the granularity of sexual behaviour and optimal public health messaging suited to different groups of people in the UK,” Dr Brainard said.

If this survey proves anything, however, it’s that we should not assume that one’s age excludes them from being sexually active, with the thriving sex lives of many gay and bisexual men over the age of 70 proving many assumptions false.