A frequently repeated statistic claims that nearly 30% of gay men have had more than 1,000 sexual partners. The figure traces to the Homosexualities study published in 1978 by Alan P. Bell and Martin S. Weinberg, building on earlier Kinsey work. Their research aimed to challenge stereotypes and myths about homosexuality. Later scrutiny found major problems with methods and sampling. The study relied on interviews with people in the San Francisco area, which was not representative of queer communities nationwide. The researchers then recruited 686 men from bars and bathhouses, focusing on a group likely to be more sexually open. The reported 28% figure came from this narrow, nonrepresentative sample.
"Though Kinsey passed away in 1956, it took more than 20 years for his work on homosexuality to be carried forward. In the late '70s, the psychologist Alan P. Bell and the sociologist Martin S. Weinberg picked up Kinsey's work on gay people and published the landmark Homosexualities study in 1978. Their findings are credited with disproving harmful stereotypes and myths about homosexuality."
"Over time, however, many of their methods have failed to hold up. That includes the sample of respondents themselves. Bell and Weinberg exclusively interviewed men and women in the San Francisco area. Suffice to say, the LGBTQ+ people in San Francisco in the '60s and '70s weren't representative of the queer community nationwide. They were far more open and promiscuous."
"Out of that already defined group, Bell and Weinberg narrowed their sample further. To find out more about gay men and their sex lives, they recruited 686 men from San Francisco's bars and bathhouses. In other words, they zeroed in on the most lascivious of the lot. At the time, their findings were viewed as shocking. They found that 28% of the men they sampled had more than 1,000 sexual partners in their lifetimes."
Read at Queerty
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