Young bisexual men most likely to stay in the closet: survey
Image: Bisexual Pride Flag (Source: Wikimedia Commons)
A survey of 11,000 young people conducted by triple j suggests that young bisexual men are the least likely to have come out among their peers.
The results indicate that gay men aged between 18 and 29 are twice as likely to have come out than bisexual men, according to the survey.
48 per cent of bisexual woman have come out, just under half the 86 per cent of lesbians who have come out.
The results also suggest that young women are twice as likely to come out as LGBTI than their male counterparts, with 89 per cent of male respondents identifying as straight.
15 per cent of women identify as bisexual versus 5 per cent of men, with 2 per cent of women identifying as lesbian, 3 per cent as pansexual and 2 per cent as ‘other’.
The results released so far make no specifications about gender beyond male and female.
1 per cent of men responding identify as pansexual, with 1 per cent identifying as ‘other’.
The high proportion of those who took part in the survey identifying as either bisexual or pansexual backs up other surveys and studies which suggest young people are increasingly sexually fluid.
A YouGov report published in June showed that fewer people in the US identify as ‘completely heterosexual’ than ever.
The data from triple j’s survey also shows that 47 per cent of respondents who identify as LGBTI haven’t come out at all.
An activist last year started the #DoBetterBiUs hashtag to call out biphobia in media.
And earlier this year, singer Janelle Monáe came out as pansexual, bringing attention to an under-discussed and often misunderstood sexuality.
A university study published in March also suggested that the notion of total heterosexuality may not even exist.
One man who completed triple j’s survey found that completing it allowed him to acknowledge his bisexuality.
“When it got to the part on sexuality it said, ‘are you straight, gay, bisexual, etc’,” he said.
“That’s the first moment I externally wrote down or acknowledged… ‘yes I’m bisexual’.”
