Newspaper Page Text
March 1,1990 • Southern Voice IS
Feature
New Kinsey of Lesbian Sex
~ ' Out and Increased HIV Risk are Highlighted
by Jorjet Harper
In a soon-to-be-published Kinsey Institute
study of lesbian sex patterns, 262 women who
chose the self-orientation label of "lesbian,"
"homosexual," or "gay” were questioned in
detail about their sexual practices and sexual
histories.
Results of the study show that 70 percent
of those who currently refer to themselves as
lesbians had used a different label earlier in
life: 59 percent had called themselves "hetero
sexual" at some time since the age of 18; 13
percent had labeled themselves "bisexual" at
some time since age 18. Only 28 percent had
referred to themselves as "lesbian" during
their entire adult lives. Twenty percent of all
the women in the sample had been married at
least once.
"Clearly there's the coming out process,"
said Mary Ziemba-Davis, a Kinsey Institute
researcher who, along with June Reinesch and
Stephanie Sanders, conducted the study.
"Most gays and lesbians, particularly because
of socialization in American society, will start
out identifying as heterosexual only to come
at some later point to a realization that gay is
a more appropriate label for their lifestyle."
According to the study, the number of les
bians who have had sex with men at some
time in their adult lives is about 75 percent.
This figure is roughly equal to the number of
gay men who, according to other studies,
have been sexual with women. Data culled
from several studies, and published in the
November 1988 issue of American
Psychologist, shows that from 62 to 79 per
cent of self-identified gay men have had het
erosexual intercourse some time in their adult
lives, and 15 to 26 percent of self-identified
gay men had been married.
Forty-six percent—almost half—of the les
bians in the new Kinsey study reported hav
ing sex with men since 1980. Of those, one
third reported having sex with male partners
they "knew or suspected had had at least one
homosexual experience since adulthood."
Ziemba-Davis emphasizes that there is a
difference between self-labeling and actual
behaviors: "We're confident that the women
who participated in our study are lesbians,
that they coasider themselves lesbians, and
that's very valid.
"Lesbians sleeping with men is the biggest
way, along with IV needle exchange, that
AIDS is going to come into the lesbian com
munity," says lesbian sex therapist Joanne
Loulan, author of Lesbian Sex and Lesbian
Passion.
"It's easier for lesbians to sleep with gay
men than straight men,” Loulan says. "They
don't hassle you, it's playing around, nobody
thinks they're going to get attached to any
body particularly, it's easier to have recre
ational sex with a man—and if you can do it
with a gay man, how simple! We have such
tremendous denial about HTV in our commu
nity. Lesbians think that they can't get AIDS
because they’re lesbians."
Only four percent of the lesbians who
reported penile/vaginal intercourse with
exclusively heterosexual men said they used
condoms "at least some of the time" while 61
percent of those who had penile-vaginal inter
course with "behaviorally bisexual" partners
used condoms. Roughly the same proportion
of each group—76 percent of those with het
erosexual partners and 79 percent with bisex
ual partners—reported unprotected intravagi-
nal ejaculation.
The study also found that women who
slept with men they knew or suspected had
had gay experiences were more likely to
engage in anal intercourse, the highest risk
factor for HIV sexual transmission. Lesbians
reported that in over half the cases when they
engaged in penile/anal intercourse with men,
no condom was used.
The Kinsey study was conducted in 1987
at an annual women's event which attracts
5,000 to 7,000. It will be published as a paper
called "Self-Labeled Sexual Orientation,
Sexual Behavior, and Knowledge about
AIDS: Implications for Biomedical Research
and Education Programs," in a forthcoming
book, Proceedings of N1MHINIDA
Workshop on Women and AIDS: Promoting
Healthy Behaviors, from American
Psychiatric Press, Washington, D.C.
My Night at the Grammys
by Angela Motter
Growing up I really loved awards cere
monies. With clammy hands and heart racing
I'd wait for that magic moment when m y
name would be called. Embarrassingly, it
wasn't until recently that I made the connec
tion between plain old hard work and the
receipt of those magical statues and the
cheers that accompany them.
My love of awards is probably why I, at
age 10, decided to become a musician. And
by all outside appearances, overnight success
seemed to be the rule. Money for nothin';
chicks for free.
as Bonnie Raid's face went white when she
(finally) got album of the year for Nick of
Time , topping pop icons like Bette, Gloria
Estefan, Tina Turner and Paula Abdul.
And how about those Indigo Girls? (Hey,
I even know theml) Remember when they
were the house band at the Little Five Points
Pub. It's especially sweet to see all their hard
work pay off. Two nominations at the 32nd
Annual Grammy Awards in the first year
after their debut album, thank you very
much. As for the disappointment we felt
when only a still shot of their acceptance
speech for Best Contemporary Folk Artist
Amy Ray, winner of Angela Motter's Melisa Etheridge Look-alike Award and Emily Saliers
Through adult eyes, things appear
startlingly different. But I still want to be a
musician. And despite industry insiders who
pooh-pooh such ceremonies, I still adore
those awards shows.
Especially the Grammys.
Didn't you just want to scream when k.d.
lang got Best Female Country Vocal? And
didn't you just want to squeeze Bette Midler
when she did her trademark shuffle while
singing "Wind Beneath My Wings"? (You
know the song; the one song most drag
queens wish they could duplicate.) And how
could you help but shed a bucketful of tears
was shown—well, just because Emily
Sailers is a redhead like Bonnie R. and Bette
M„ don't think that she and Amy will have
to wait another 17 years before they get
another Grammy. These two have just begun
a long, successful career.
And so what if Milli Vanilli did win Best
Pop Artist? Shallow had to be in there some
where or else we all would have died of
shock. (I mean it was the Grammys wasn't
it?). They're handsome, slick, manufactured
and, at least for a while, great fun to dance
to.
Continued on page 15
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