OkCupid Analyzes LGBT Encounters

The data source: 3.2 million OkCupid users who are both homosexual and heterosexual. OkTrends, a dating research group affiliated with OkCupid release the results of their latest study and state that their data challenges some common misconceptions. 

First off all, the data supports the claim that gay and lesbian people are not sexually interested in straight people. We've all heard the common paranoia that gay or lesbian people are trying to get into bed with straight people (and the intelligent folks can recognize that this is ridiculous)-- OkTrends quips that "Freud called [the concept] schwanzanst; the US Army calls it Don't Ask, Don't Tell."

Researchers combed through over 4 million match searches and found that

• Only 0.6% of gay men have searched for straight men.
• Only 0.1% of lesbian women have searched for straight women.
• There was not a single person in the search who was gay or lesbian and PRIMARILY searched for straight people.

Furthermore, the study revealed that the median number of sexual partners was six for gay men, straight men, lesbian women, and straight women-- meaning, for those of us who are not so good at mathematics, that numbers of sexual partners are roughly equal for all orientations and that homosexual people are no more or less promiscuous than heterosexual people.

The study also asks over 250,000 people who consider themselves to be straight if they've ever had a same-sex encounter. The results are in the pie chart below.

 There were also interesting results in where people who were interested in homosexual vs. heterosexual encounters were likely to live. Some results (cough, Louisiana, cough) were not surprising. Others, however, were. Here's the chart.

Want to see full results of the study? Click here.