I’m back to scanning the news again, and what a delightful story I uncovered the other day. Additionally, Karen was nice enough to send me a Ted Talk about the more fluid perspective on sexual identities that exists today. Link to YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CN0Ccb64xjM And, oh my goodness, the research is unbelievable. I remember years ago, the estimate for LGBTQ+ was about ten percent. My perspective on queer identity was formed when the research began to suggest that my sexuality was determined by biology. That made us all feel much better about ourselves. We were born this way, nothing we could do about it! I haven’t completely discarded this notion, because after all, I have given men a shot, and no, nope, nada, they are not for me, so I really don’t believe that we can completely throw out the notion that sexuality has a strong biological component. Yet I also cannot ignore the new research, and maybe the fixed-mindset perspective is bullshit, too. So here’s what I learned, and it’s going to blow your little minds. Oh, to be a young lesbian today…

Women are drifting from a heterosexual mindset in far greater numbers than men. Well, duh, can you blame us with all the recent uprisings of the manosphere and MAGA men, with their positively frightening views? No wonder women are turning away from men, or simply choosing to remain single.
A recent study spanning 15 years and more than 10,000 public university undergraduates in New York State found that in 2026, 50% of the female students reported attraction not exclusively to men, as compared to 22% in 2011. For young men, it barely budged at all. In fact, the young men’s reported exclusive attraction to women went down. From 14% in 2011 to 13% in 2026.
This same study found he share of women who reported not having exclusively male sexual partners increased from 8% to 35%, while the share identifying as something other than exclusively heterosexual increased from 18% to 44%. These trends were broadly consistent across racial groups.
The belief that sexual identities existing on the spectrum is not new, but based on the recent research, it suggests that these identities appear to be more changeable or fluid.
Perhaps some of you remember the old research born out of the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell and Defense of Marriage Act era of the 1990s, when researchers found several things: several studies pointed to the fact that homosexuality tended to run in families, suggesting a genetic component; another study found a cluster of cells in the hypothalamus in gay men’s brain, suggesting a difference in neurology; then there was the study where they changed the testosterone exposure of newborn rats that affected their mating patterns for the rest of their life, suggesting there is an early hormonal influence on sexuality. This was the born that way era. And this had a tremendous impact on court decisions because if sexual identity turned out to be an immutable characteristic, then the court would have precedent to rule against discrimination based on sexual orientation.
To date, no one has found the gay gene, or any hormone recipe that creates a “gay brain.” And not much research has been done on predictors of bisexuality or lesbianism. Further studies suggest that gay men are more likely to report they felt different at an early age. Queer women were less likely to have that description resonate with them. I find this odd, because many of my lesbian friends have reported feeling different at a young age, but interestingly enough, I think there are a lot more late-in-life lesbians because they couldn’t quite point to that time when they realized they were queer. This probably supports how women tend to be more fluid in their perspectives on sexuality.
Some argue that these dramatic statistical changes have a lot more to do with shifting cultural views, making it more acceptable to come out as queer, especially for women. That, in fact, it’s always been there, but we just weren’t prepared to shout it from the rooftops. The feminist movement was a good thing for us because it expanded access to education, paid work, political rights, contraception, divorce, and other legal protections. These changes made adult life outside of a traditional heterosexual marriage possible, easier to imagine, and ultimately easier to pursue. It’s even made it more acceptable to choose not to have children. We are no longer simply a womb to carry the offspring for the next generation. Contrast that with men whose identity centers around masculinity, and that still means sexual prowess with women, not men. Heterosexuality still offers advantages to men, including authority, sexual entitlement, and unequal freedom from domestic labor.

In conclusion, this new study is good news, bad news for us. Unfortunately, recognizing that sexuality does indeed have a cultural component gives the hard right a lot more ammunition to impact our lives by taking away those rights we fought so hard for. If we aren’t born this way and are indeed impacted by “liberal influences turning us queer” (those are not my beliefs or words), then we’ve handed the hard right ammunition to come after us and shut down free thought in higher education. It’s already begun, as the hard right tries to influence what we are taught at every level of education. All we can do is keep telling our stories and hope to influence society’s acceptance of LGBTQ+ people, regardless of where our identities come from. I suspect it is a little of both, born that way and cultural impact on our queer identity. We are all on the spectrum, born a certain way, then influenced to explore where we are on that spectrum, giving us the freedom to explore those shades of gray. Want to read my stories? Feel free to click on the links below.