Have there been any studies done showing a significant statistical difference between the number of times a certain type of behavior (underage drinking, premarital sex, drug abuse) is engaged in or the number of people who engage in these activites based on sexual orientation?
Thanks.
I think a lot of it is genetic, however I did read somewhere that a male child who has one or more older brothers is slightly more likely to be gay.
Yes, that’s true, but it answers the question . . . how?
Well, seeing as how gays and lesbians can’t get (legally) married in the US, their rates of premarital sex may be pretty damn high, depending on how you define “premarital”.
It doesnt, but I thought I’d say it anyway. 
I know it’s not a scientific answer but I cant see underage drinking having anything to do with it. Of coarse I could be proved wrong…
Well, the reason i ask is this: I’ve always been taught that the homosexual “lifestyle” is a choice, an abomination, and only one of many sinful things this person does. (I’m in no way advocating this style of thinking.) I just want to know if there are any definitive studies you might have happened across along the lines of “Do homosexual people really engage in certain “bad” activities more then heterosexual people?” Or the other way around. In other words, not does underage drinking cause a person to be gay, like you might have taken it, Griffin , but do gay people illegally drink more then straight people. I know this presupposes a lot of things–like what exactly is ‘bad’ and ‘wrong’. For my purposes, bad = things generally considered sinful by your average Christian…mom.
[please dont hurt me].
While I know of no such study, it would not surprise me if that link occurred, due to the societal stresses many homosexuals endure, mostly coming from those who are intolerant and unaccepting of them. Being shunned and degraded for who you are can drive one to drink/drug/other, especially in the turbulent teens.
I don’t have the answer to your question but I would just like to remind you that correlation does not equal causation.
ooh. good point Uncle! Another reason I asked was because if such a study has not been done, I would like to do something along those lines, myself. (Getting your own research published gets bonus points on Grad school apps when you are an aspiring psychologist.) But that is a definite correllation to be considered.
Oh, so *that’s *why you’re asking. Well, it depends: are you seriously questioning the things you’ve “always been taught,” or are you looking for reasons to continue thinking that way?
At the risk of moving into Great Debates territory, I’d like to point out a gross inconsistency in that particular slice of dogma: No person is without sin – why would homosexuals be singled out for mere sinning?
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TheCheerfulPessimist, I see on preview that you are thinking of doing a study on this topic. That sounds like a good idea. I’m betting you’ll learn a lot from the research.
My experience is this: homosexuals, like all people, are a varied lot. As much variation of belief and behavior as you find in the general population (homosexuals + non-homosexuals), you can expect to find the same in the homosexual population.
It doesn’t matter. This looks to be a legitimate GQ to me, a search for an existing study. Ignorance Fighting is the reason you get that big weekly paycheck from the Chicago Reader.
The only such studies I remember seeing cited say that
• gay and lesbian people, particularly youth, have higher rates of attempted suicide than their straight peers;
• gay men have a lower rate of pedophilia than straight men do (supported by medical and psychiatric studies; denied by conservative “family values” groups, who have their own studies).
Try an Alta Vista Advanced search on [study near suicide near (gay or lesbian)] for the former and [study near (pedophil* or “child abuse” or “sexual abuse”) near gay] for the latter. You can probably find other studies on similar subjects (drinking, fornicating, etc.) with similar searches.
Alta what? 
Gay men have a much lower rate of adultery than heterosexual men.
I find it interesting that your examples of behaviors that might correlate with being gay were all negative behaviors. Why not an increased likelihood to do volunteer work, or a ravenous appetite for literature as a child? I question why someone would actually think that gays are any more likely to engage in so-called “sinful” behaviors than anyone else… a lot of people in this world have problems and issues other than sexual orientation to deal with. On the other hand, if you are looking specifically at how society’s treatment of gays causes them problems, then perhaps you have something to study. The homeless gay teen disowned by his parents, for example.
Gays come from all backgrounds and religions. They are not just your rebellious teens, but also the conformists. They can be terribly shy or horribly obnoxious. As someone who never had alcohol until age 21, graduated at the top of my class, and didn’t even have my first kiss till 25, I can assure you that gays cannot simply be stereotyped as the “bad” people. Nor is it a choice, as anyone who has struggled with their sexual identity and religious beliefs can attest.
Once I get back to my home computer I can pull up some cites, but a few things that gay teens have been shown to engage in at a higher rate include suicide, alcohol abuse, drug abuse, eating disorders, and other sorts of self abusive behavior. Trans people even more so. I admit that I have a heavily skewed frame of reference- I have worked with scores of queer teens- but I don’t find these things particularly surprising.
On reflection, one can either consider, as I do, that this is a result of a society which constantly impresses upon you that you are a disgrace to be looked down upon and treated as something lesser… or you can say that a degenerate people will engage in degenerate behavior at a higher rate.