Posted on 06/16/2004 1:54:28 AM PDT by JohnHuang2
Wednesday, June 16, 2004
Activists in Canada are disputing statistics from the government in Ottawa released yesterday that show just 1 percent of the nation's population identify themselves as homosexual.
The figures from the Canadian Community Health Survey also indicate 0.7 percent of Canadians said they were bisexual, the Canadian Press news service reported.
Advocates for homosexual rights cast doubt on the government's numbers.
"What's clear is that there is under-reporting,'' Laurie Arron, director of advocacy for the "gay"-rights group Egale told the news service, claiming the number of homosexuals is somewhere between 5 and 10 percent.
"I think you can definitely count on under-reporting, there's no question of that,'' said Michael Botnick, a professor of anthropology and sociology at the University of British Columbia.
The survey found 1.3 percent of men considered themselves homosexual compared to 0.7 percent of women. Some 0.9 percent of women said they were bisexual, compared to 0.6 of men.
Homosexual activists claim there is reluctance among respondents to honestly report their sexual orientation on a government survey.
Botnick argued homosexuality is hard to define statistically.
"Sexuality is a very slippery and elusive issue that has little to do with gay, homosexual or queer, however anyone wants to describe it,'' he said.
"Somebody who has never had a same-sex experience, ever in their lives, but has fantasies, does that make them gay, or not? Maybe they are, but they don't qualify.''
According to the Canadian Press report, Quebec reported the highest number of homosexuals or bisexuals at 2.3 percent of the population. British Columbia followed at 1.9 percent, New Brunswick with 1.6 percent and Ontario at 1.5 percent.
The belief that 10 percent of the population is homosexual is based on discredited research done by Indiana University zoologist Dr. Alfred Kinsey in the mid-20th century. More recent research puts the number between 1 and 3 percent.
BTW, just an old keyboard cowboy's empirial observation from 55 years of living? My guesstimate is 1-3% of the population is gay.
Oh yeah, right. Well, it's a loving, normal and perfectly healthy 1%...
Yeah, well we are probably all gay, we just don't know it.
What the hell does THAT mean?
"Somebody who has never had a same-sex experience, ever in their lives, but has fantasies, does that make them gay, or not? Maybe they are, but they don't qualify.''
Now they want to include anybody who has had a fantasy in their numbers?
I don't know how to put it delicately, but I think that's the "any old hole will do" school of thought.
I want you to know I was on a business call when I read your reply. Talk about inappropriate laughter. :-)
Research throughout the world consistently shows between 1-2% of the population is homosexual. The standard response to these figures is to dismiss the findings and loudly trumpet the 10% figure from Kinsey's "research". I can tell you one thing, and that there are not over 30,000 homosexuals in the Montgomery area. (which would be 10% of the roughly 300,000 population of the metro Montgomery area, for those of you in Rio Linda)
Agreed. Unless you're using Kinsey's population sample, prisoners and pedophiles, as a "standard population", the percentage is 1-2%, not 10%. By any definition, homosexuality is abnormal and needs to be addressed as such.
"Somebody who has never had a Kryptonite reaction, ever in their lives, but has fantasies, does that make them Superman, or not? Maybe they are, but they don't qualify.''
Maybe the reason the figure is so low is the fantasy that they've all emigrated to San Francisco!
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