The Homosexual Spectrum

The word “homosexual” is usually used in everyday language as a noun, referring
to someone who is sexually attracted to, and has sexual relations
with, members of the same sex. As a noun, however, the word is misleading,
because few people who call themselves homosexual have never engaged in
heterosexual activity. Similarly, many people who call themselves heterosexual have at some time engaged in some sort of homosexual activity. Therefore,
many sex researchers (sexologists) use a seven-point scale first devised
for the Alfred Kinsey surveys in the 1940’s, ranging from 0 (exclusively heterosexual)
to 6 (exclusively homosexual). Others prefer to use the words
“heterosexual” and “homosexual” as adjectives describing behaviors rather
than as nouns.
Homosexual behavior has been documented in every society that sexologists
have studied; in many societies it has been institutionalized. For example,
the ancient Greeks believed that women were spiritually beneath men
and that male-male love was the highest formof the emotion. In Melanesian
societies, homosexual activity was thought to be necessary in order for
young boys to mature into virile, heterosexual adults. Homosexuality as an
overall preference or orientation is harder to study, but it is thought that between
5 percent and 10 percent of adult males, and between 2 percent and 4
percent of females, have a predominantly homosexual orientation.