title: SAME-GENDER SEX AMONG U.S. ADULTS: TRENDS ACROSS THE TWENTIETH CENTURY AND DURING THE 1990s.
abstract: Trends in reporting of same-gender sex are assessed using data from the 1988-2002 General Social Surveys (Ns = 9,487 males and 12,336 females). Analyses indicate that the reported prevalence of female-female sexual contact increased substantially and monotonically across twentieth-century birth cohorts, rising from 1.6 percent (Standard error [SE] = 0.60) for the cohort of U.S. women born prior to 1920 to 6.9 percent (SE = 0.81) for women born in 1970 and afterward. Increases in the reported prevalence of female-female contacts also occurred within the 1990s. These trends persist when statistical controls are introduced for changes in attitudes toward same-gender sexual behavior. No parallel trend is observed in the reporting of male-male sexual contacts during adulthood, although the proportion of U.S. men reporting such contacts in the past year and in the past five years increased during the 1990s.
authors.affiliation: Professor of applied social research at the City University of New York (Queens College and the Graduate Center) and a scientist with the Program in Health and Behavior Measurement at RTI International.
authors.forename: Charles F
authors.initials: CF
authors.lastname: Turner
authors.forename: Mariaa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Villarroel
authors.forename: James R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Chromy
authors.forename: Elizabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Eggleston
authors.forename: Susan M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Rogers
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