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I think gay women/men = left-handed people.

Discussion in 'Coming Out Advice' started by pinklov3ly, Feb 29, 2012.

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  1. pinklov3ly

    pinklov3ly
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    While we're considered to be 1:10 when it comes to sexuality :slight_smile:
    which is something I'm kinda proud of, I enjoy being the minority :-/ I'm a lesbian :slight_smile:
     
    #1 pinklov3ly, Feb 29, 2012
  2. zzzero

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    I'm not sure what this thread even means... What do gay people have to do with left or right handed people?
     
    #2 zzzero, Feb 29, 2012
  3. Mellowish

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    i believe that the title is....wait i'm left-handed :O
     
    #3 Mellowish, Feb 29, 2012
  4. Random Dent

    Random Dent Guest

    But I am right handed and I am gay. Oo
     
    #4 Random Dent, Feb 29, 2012
  5. Chip

    Chip
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    I've anecdotally noticed this for years, and just recently I ran across a reference to a study showing that among LGBT people, the incidence of left-handedness is something approaching 35 or 40%, vs. about 10% of the population.

    That's another interesting correlate that points in the direction of homosexuality being hardwired, since left or right side dominance is definitely not "learned". Plus, in the cases 40 years or more ago where children were forced away from using their dominant hand, it was always being forced to use their right hand if they were lefthanded; no one is ever forced to become left-handed, so the correlation between sexual orientation and left-handedness could not have any environmental cause.
     
    #5 Chip, Feb 29, 2012
  6. Skyfire13

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    I've never seen the numbers for 1 in 10 people being gay. The most I have ever seen is 1 in 20 with it usually being less than that.

    right handed too by the way
     
    #6 Skyfire13, Feb 29, 2012
  7. TyRawr

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    Statistics are always flawed, particularly Kinsey's. Just be considerate of that. But when looking at it, it is interesting that there is that correlation.
     
    #7 TyRawr, Feb 29, 2012
  8. Ridiculous

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    #8 Ridiculous, Mar 1, 2012
  9. sanguine

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    well im right handed, but i learnt from a health program on tv that the older the parents when conceiving the child, the more likely that the child would be left handed :confused:
     
    #9 sanguine, Mar 1, 2012
  10. Browncoat

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    Kinsey's statistics were as poor as you get - however, the "handedness" study isn't his -

    I'm looking at the reference right now, it's - Sexual orientation and handedness in men and women: A Meta-Analysis. by Lalumiere, Blanchard, and Zucker (2000). Here's a link to a pdf, but I think it might require university affiliation (btw - I can give a link to this, right? Not against EC rules?).


    Random note - my Developmental/Human Sexuality Psych. Professor said that left-handedness was caused by a fetus/baby settling in an "atypical" position when in the womb. I have no idea how truly valid that claim is, or how it could relate to the significantly higher rates of left-handedness in gay individuals - somewhat interesting to contemplate though.
     
    #10 Browncoat, Mar 1, 2012
    Last edited: Mar 1, 2012
  11. Countervail

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    I think what you are thinking is not so true. :slight_smile: all of my homo friends are right-handed.
     
    #11 Countervail, Mar 1, 2012
  12. xalex

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    Such a correlation between left-handedness and gayness seems to be rather far-fetched.
    The fact that 35-40% of gay people are left-handed (HOW on Earth would anyone know that?) could just mean that left-handed people are more likely to come out and thus identifiy as a gay left-handed person, whereas right-handed people might be less likely to come out. This is something to consider as well even though I know this makes little sense - but not less than the original statement itself.
     
    #12 xalex, Mar 1, 2012
  13. pinklov3ly

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    Just meant that we're rare :slight_smile:
     
    #13 pinklov3ly, Mar 1, 2012
  14. IrishJ

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    I have both, ambidexterity and bisexuality, *JACKPOT*
     
    #14 IrishJ, Mar 1, 2012
  15. pinklov3ly

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    I didn't mean for everyone to take it literally, I read this reference about left-handed people and I thought, ”Wow, I really believe it was in God's plan to make us like this.” My Mom's left-handed and she's the only one who's left-handed in the family. I'm not saying there's
    any type of correlation between being left-handed and gay.
     
    #15 pinklov3ly, Mar 1, 2012
  16. zzzero

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    That's really interesting Chip, but I'm not sure your statistics can be taken without a grain of salt. A lot of studies on gay people need to be taken with a grain of salt because we can only measure by the amount of people who are openly gay.
     
    #16 zzzero, Mar 1, 2012
  17. J Snow

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    Research has shown that sexual orientation actually has a stronger genetic component than left/right handedness. Interestingly enough, the left handed used to be persecuted to great extremes. Something about Jesus being the "right hand" of God, so being left handed was a sign of demonic possession.

    Of course it really has more to do with some differences in which side of the brain are performing what tasks in the individual, but blaming the devil makes sense too.
     
    #17 J Snow, Mar 1, 2012
  18. Chip

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    There's no question that the data correlating gay people and left-handedness isn't absolute, for all the reasons stated. But as I said, there is a published study making that claim, as well as several anecdotal experiences I've had (including, I think, a non-scientific survey someone did at EC that seemed to show the same statistics) pointing in the direction of an unusual correlation between being gay and being left-handed.

    And honestly, that's one of the frustrating things about *any* research on gay people; one of the most interesting things I've seen is study of what are, by any other definition, gay men (men in relationships with men, who only have sex with men, who have never been in relationships with women) who refuse to identify themselves as homosexual or gay. Clearly denial, but when we have situations like that, as Taylor pointed out, it's impossible to get any reliable data due to people mis-reporting their own sexual orientation.
     
    #18 Chip, Mar 1, 2012
  19. Carpe Diem

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    "Blaming the devil makes sense"? How so? I've very piqued by that statement of yours.

    For the record, I'm left handed too and my mum did try to correct me for a relatively short period when I just started to scribble stuff and my handedness became obvious. However, it's not for religious reasons. She's rather practical/realistic when it comes to things like this.

    She told me (several years later, when I started to speak) that left-handed people have it harder because most tools are designed for right-handed people (kitchen stove knob, scissors, eating utensils, etc.). So, whenever I tried to perform those tasks and failed, she would jokingly tease me that left-handed people are useless before she took over the tasks for me.
     
    #19 Carpe Diem, Mar 1, 2012
  20. Chip

    Chip
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    There's no question that the data correlating gay people and left-handedness isn't absolute, for all the reasons stated. But as I said, there is a published study making that claim, as well as several anecdotal experiences I've had (including, I think, a non-scientific survey someone did at EC that seemed to show the same statistics) pointing in the direction of an unusual correlation between being gay and being left-handed.

    And honestly, that's one of the frustrating things about *any* research on gay people; one of the most interesting things I've seen is study of what are, by any other definition, gay men (men in relationships with men, who only have sex with men, who have never been in relationships with women) who refuse to identify themselves as homosexual or gay. Clearly denial, but when we have situations like that, as Taylor pointed out, it's impossible to get any reliable data due to people mis-reporting their own sexual orientation.

    Well, that's another complication. My understanding is there's a percentage of left-handers who are left-brain dominant, while the majority are right-brain dominant. That's from back in college, where left-handers were excluded from some psych experiments because there was no easy way to tell if they were left- or right-side dominant. So that makes things even murkier.
     
    #20 Chip, Mar 1, 2012
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