Editing Promiscuity (section)

===Gay men (homosexuals)===<!--READ THIS BEFORE EDITING: for purposes of accuracy, please try to cite probability sample surveys. Convenience sample surveys which are not representative of the wider population can be misleading. -->

A 1989 study found having over 100 partners to be present though rare among homosexual males.<ref name="nejm">{{cite journal |doi = 10.1056/NEJM199410063311407 |last1 = Friedman |first1 = Richard C. |last2 = Downey |first2 = Jennifer I. |date =October 6, 1994 |title = Homosexuality |journal = New England Journal of Medicine |volume = 331 |issue = 14 |pages = 923–30 |pmid = 8078554 |doi-access = free }}</ref> An extensive 1994 study found that difference in the mean number of sexual partners between gay and straight men "did not appear very large".<ref name=":3">{{Cite book|last1=Wardle|first1=Lynn D.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HYfdMZEKIp4C&q=edward+laumann+1994+mean+42+partners&pg=PA113|title=Marriage and Same-sex Unions: A Debate|last2=Duncan|first2=William C.|last3=Strasser|first3=Mark|last4=Coolidge|first4=David Orgon|date=2003|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|isbn=978-0-275-97653-8|page=113|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Soble|first=Alan|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4HdpN1xnl5EC&q=Homosexuality:+The+Nature+and+Harm+Arguments+corvino+Bell+&pg=PA135|title=The Philosophy of Sex: Contemporary Readings|date=2002|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|isbn=978-0-7425-1346-4|page=145|language=en}}</ref>

A 2007 study reported that two large population surveys found "the majority of [[gay men]] had similar numbers of unprotected sexual partners annually as straight men and women."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/82330.php|title=Sexual Behavior Does Not Explain Varying HIV Rates Among Gay And Straight Men|work=Medical News Today|date=13 September 2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Goodreau SM, Golden MR |title=Biological and demographic causes of high HIV and sexually transmitted disease prevalence in men who have sex with men |journal=Sex Transm Infect |volume=83 |issue=6 |pages=458–62 |date=October 2007  |pmid=17855487 |doi=10.1136/sti.2007.025627 |pmc=2598698}}</ref>

The 2013 British [[National Survey of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles|NATSAL]] study found that gay men typically had 19 sexual partners in a lifetime (median).<ref name=":4">{{Cite journal|last1=Mercer|first1=Catherine H.|last2=Prah|first2=Philip|last3=Field|first3=Nigel|last4=Tanton|first4=Clare|last5=Macdowall|first5=Wendy|last6=Clifton|first6=Soazig|last7=Hughes|first7=Gwenda|last8=Nardone|first8=Anthony|last9=Wellings|first9=Kaye|last10=Johnson|first10=Anne M.|last11=Sonnenberg|first11=Pam|date=July 2016|title=The health and well-being of men who have sex with men (MSM) in Britain: Evidence from the third National Survey of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles (Natsal-3)|journal=BMC Public Health|language=en|volume=16|issue=1|page=525|doi=10.1186/s12889-016-3149-z|pmid=27386950|pmc=4936006|issn=1471-2458|doi-access=free}}</ref> In the previous year, 51.8% reported having either 0 or 1 sexual partner. A further 21.3% reported having between 2 and 4 sexual partners, 7.3% reported having between 5 and 9, and 19.6% reported having 10 or more sexual partners.<ref name=":4" />

A 2014 study in Australia found gay men had a median of 22 sexual partners in a lifetime (''sexual partner'' was defined as kissing, touching or intercourse).<ref name=":5">{{Cite journal|last1=Grulich|first1=Andrew|last2=de Visser|first2=Richard|last3=Badcock|first3=Paul|last4=Smith|first4=Anthony|last5=Heywood|first5=Wendy|last6=Richters|first6=Juliet|last7=Rissel|first7=Chris|last8=Simpson|first8=Judy|date=2014-11-01|title=Homosexual experience and recent homosexual encounters: the Second Australian Study of Health and Relationships|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/267929896|journal=Sexual Health|publisher=CSIRO|volume=11|issue=5|pages=439–50|doi=10.1071/SH14122|pmid=25376997}}</ref> 50.1% of gay men reported having either 0 or 1 partner in the previous year, while 25.6% reported 10 or more partners in the previous year.<ref name=":5" />

Research on gay sexual behavior may overrepresent promiscuous respondents.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|last=Bancroft|first=John|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CpMYXcxIEbQC&pg=PR14|title=Researching Sexual Behavior: Methodological Issues|date=1997|publisher=Indiana University Press|isbn=978-0-253-33339-1|pages=xiv, 270|language=en}}</ref><ref name=":3" /><ref name=":2">{{Cite journal|last1=Prah|first1=Philip|last2=Hickson|first2=Ford|last3=Bonell|first3=Chris|last4=Mcdaid|first4=Lisa|last5=Erens|first5=Bob|last6=Riddell|first6=Julie|last7=Wayal|first7=Sonali|last8=Nardone|first8=A|last9=Sonnenberg|first9=Pam|last10=Johnson|first10=Anne|last11=Mercer|first11=Catherine|date=2015-09-01|title=P11.02 Representing men who have sex with men (msm) in britain: evidence from comparative analyses of the latest convenience and probability surveys|url=https://researchonline.lshtm.ac.uk/id/eprint/2535237/1/Men-who-have-sex-with-men-in-Great-Britain.pdf|journal=Sexually Transmitted Infections|volume=91|pages=A174.1–A174|doi=10.1136/sextrans-2015-052270.452|doi-access=free}}</ref> This is because gay men are a small portion of the male population, and thus many researchers have relied on [[Convenience sampling|convenience surveys]] to research behavior of gay men. Examples of this type of sampling includes surveying men on dating apps such as [[Grindr]], or finding volunteers at gay bars, clubs and saunas. Convenience surveys often exclude gay men who are in a relationship, and gay men who do not use dating apps or attend gay venues.<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Dodds|first1=J P|last2=Mercer|first2=C H|last3=Mercey|first3=D E|last4=Copas|first4=A J|last5=Johnson|first5=A M|date=2006|title=Men who have sex with men: a comparison of a probability sample survey and a community based study|journal=Sexually Transmitted Infections|volume=82|issue=1|pages=86–87|doi=10.1136/sti.2005.015248|issn=1368-4973|pmc=2563827|pmid=16461615}}</ref> For example, the British and European convenience surveys included approximately five times as many gay men who reported "5 or more sexual partners" than the nationally representative NATSAL study did.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://na.eventscloud.com/file_uploads/fec7af64dc4c887d918bdc0c78671614_PhilipPrah_124.pdf|title=Representing men who have sex with men (MSM) in Britain: Evidence from comparative analyses of the latest convenience & probability surveys|last=Prah|first=Philip|date=September 2015|website=natsal.ac.uk}}</ref><ref name=":2" /> [[Sampling (statistics)|Probability sample]] surveys are more useful in this regard, because they seek to accurately reflect the characteristics of the gay male population. Examples include the [[National Survey of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles|NATSAL]] in the United Kingdom and the [[General Social Survey]] in the United States.

According to [[John Corvino]], opponents of gay rights often use convenience sample statistics to support their belief that gay men are promiscuous, but that larger representative samples show that the difference is not so large, and that extreme promiscuity occurs in a minority of gay men.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Soble|first=Alan|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4HdpN1xnl5EC&q=weinberg&pg=PA139|title=The Philosophy of Sex: Contemporary Readings|date=2002|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|isbn=978-0-7425-1346-4|pages=139, 145|language=en}}</ref> Psychologist [[J. Michael Bailey]] has stated that social conservatives use promiscuity among gay men as evidence of a "decadent" nature of gay men, but says "I think they're wrong. Promiscuous gay men are expressing an essentially masculine trait. They are doing what most heterosexual men would do if they could. They are in this way just like heterosexual men, except that they don't have women to constrain them."<ref name=":6">{{Cite book |last=Bailey |first=J. Michael |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/281747420 |title=The Man Who Would Be Queen |publisher=Joseph Henry Press |year=2003 |isbn=978-0-309-08418-5 |pages=87 |format=PDF}}</ref>

Regarding [[sexually transmitted infection]]s (STIs), some researchers have said that the number of sexual partners had by gay men cannot fully explain rates of HIV infection in this population. Most gay men report having similar numbers of unprotected sexual partners as straight men on an annual basis. Unprotected receptive anal sex, which holds a much higher risk of HIV transmission, appears to be the major factor.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Nordqvist |first=Christian |date=2007-09-13 |title=Sexual Behavior Does Not Explain Varying HIV Rates Among Gay And Straight Men |url=https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/82330 |access-date=2020-07-08 |website=www.medicalnewstoday.com |language=en}}</ref>