Study Looks at Sexual Identity

The recent CDC report on the sexual behaviors of Americans ages 15-44 found that ages 20 to 24 were peaks for both men and women self-reporting a bisexual identity, and troughs for those reporting an exclusively heterosexual identity.

The National Center for Health Statistics' 2006-08 National Survey of Family Growth included data from 10,404 men and 10,140 women in the 20-to-24 age range. Of women, 6.3 percent identified as bisexual. However, bisexuality was self-reported for just 1.1 percent of women ages 35-44.

The higher their educational attainment, the fewer respondents identified as "something else" - something other than bisexual, heterosexual, homosexual or "did not report." Just one in 100 people with bachelor's degrees self-identified as "something else," compared with one in 10 with a high school diploma or GED.

"College is an opportunity to experiment without judgment, to try on certain roles," said Joel Bumgardner, an associate professor of biomedical engineering at the University of Memphis and faculty adviser to UM's gay-friendly Stonewall Tigers student group.

"The majority of students here are just like the students in that study," said Tim Smith, 28, an education major who is gay and a Stonewall Tigers member. "We're just getting away and getting out from the things that might have been holding us back in our hometowns or in our parents' homes."

With youth culture infused with sexuality, "We've seen so much that it's not a what-is-that mentality," Smith added. "It's more: Is that me?"

The Friends of AIDS Foundation is dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for HIV positive individuals and empowering people to make healthy choices to prevent the spread of the HIV virus. To learn more about The Friends of AIDS Foundation, please visit: http://www.friendsofaids.org.


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