It can start with homosexual fantasies or dreams, with the realization that one is attracted to people of the same gender, with a feeling that one is different from one’s peers or even with a sexual experience. The process of declaring a homosexual identity is often referred to as ‘coming out’. A Massachusetts (USA) study ( 5) found that 2.5% of youth self-identified as gay, lesbian or bisexual.
American data are similar Remafedi et al ( 4) reported that 1.1% of teens identified as gay or bisexual, but 4.5% stated that their main sexual attraction was to individuals of the same sex. Three per cent of girls identified as bisexual, mostly homosexual or 100% homosexual, while 6.4% of sexually active girls reported having had sex with someone of the same gender in the past year ( 3). While only 1.5% of all boys identified themselves as bisexual, mostly homosexual or 100% homosexual, 3.5% of sexually active boys said that they have had sex with someone of the same gender in the past year. The best available Canadian statistics are from the 2003 British Columbia Adolescent Health Survey ( 3), a cluster-stratified, weighted survey that represented 289,767 students from British Columbia who were enrolled in public schools. Having had sex with someone of the same gender does not always mean the teen is gay, and many gay teens have never had sex with someone of the same gender. Teens who will eventually identify as gay, lesbian or bisexual do not always do so during adolescence.
Studies that try to define the percentage of teens who are not heterosexual are often limited by the questions that they ask. Those who are attracted primarily to the opposite sex are heterosexual, those attracted primarily to the same sex are homosexual (gay or lesbian) and those who are attracted to both sexes are bisexual. Sexual and affectational preferences are not always congruent. One does not have to be sexually active to have a sexual orientation. Sexual orientation refers to whether a person’s physical and emotional arousal is to people of the same or opposite sex.