Gender Differences in the Prevalence of Same-Sex Sexual Partnering: 1988-2002

Abstract

This article proposes that recent normative, economic and legal changes in the United States have made it more likely for American adults, especially women, to select a sex partner of their own sex. Data from the GSS and NHSLS (n = 18,170) were used to examine gender differences in trends in same-sex sexual partnering between 1988 and 2002. The proportion of both men and women who reported having had a same-sex sex partner in the previous year increased over the period, and the increase was greater for women than it was for men. The increase for women was present among both white and black women and was not limited to young adults. Changes in normative climate accounted for the increase in same-sex sexual partnering among men and for a portion of the increase among women.