Bisexual men least likely to come out to their peers, says new survey
The new survey found that 47 per cent of respondents who identified as LGBT haven't come out
By Steve Brown
Bisexual men are the least likely to come out to their peers, according to a new survey.
The results from the triple j survey found that gay men aged between 18 and 29 are twice as likely to have come out than bisexual men.
Around 48 per cent of bisexual women have come out and the results found that young women are twice as likely to come out as LGBT+ than their male counterparts – with 89 per cent of male respondents identifying as straight.
The data from the survey also shows that 47 per cent of respondents who identify as LGBT+ haven’t come out at all.
The proportion of those who took part in the survey identified as either bisexual or pansexual which reinforces earlier studies that younger people are increasingly more sexually fluid.
Julia Taylor from the Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health and Society is leading the country’s largest study into the mental health of people who are attracted to more than one gender.
“Research shows that there are certain issues that are present for gay and lesbian people as well as bisexual people,” she told Hack.
“But there are particular protective factors for gay and lesbian people that bisexual people aren’t privy to.”
Taylor said her research backs up triple j’s survey in finding bisexual men have more difficulties in coming out than the rest of the young LGBTIQ population.
“More and more so bisexual women are depicted in television and literature… although it’s still minimal,” she said.
“But for bisexual men it’s completely invisible… there’s a lack of role models.
“When you’re deciding something as difficult and personal as coming out, looking up to people who have lived through it is a really important thing … and when there’s no role models for bisexual men that’s a real hindrance to the coming out journey.”