Just 1% of Canadians consider themselves homosexual, according to a nation-wide health study that contradicts the widely held belief that one in 10 people is gay.
The Canadian Community Helath Survey, compiled by Statistics Canada, found 1.3% of men and 0.7% of women reported being homosexual. Of the 84,000 people between 18 and 59 years old who were polled about their sexual orientation, slightly more women (0.9%) than men (0.6%) reported being bisexual.
The findings were met yesterday with outrage by gay and lesbian groups, who said the survey is unreliable and risks being used as ammunition against homosexuals. The widely cited statistic that gays, lesbians and bisexuals make up 10% of the population is often attributed to U.S. researcher Alfred Kinsey.
In 1948, Dr. Kinsey completed what is believed to be the first study of sexual orientation: Sexual Behaviour in the Human Male.
He found that while 4% of males said they were exclusively homosexual, 10% said they were "more or less exclusively homosexual" for at least three years between the ages of 16 and 55.
"Frankly, probably in terms of gay and lesbian lobby groups, it's been in their best interest to play the figure up as being higher, but in fairness to them, they haven't known what it is either," said Reginald Bibby, a University of Lethbridge sociologist of religion.
He said the federal figure closely mirrors what the Vanier Institute of the Family is finding in a national survey on what Canadians want from family life. That survey, to be released in October, also included a question on sexual orientation. "We're coming in at 2.8%" of the population identifying themselves as homosexual or bisexual, Mr. Bibby said.
"I don't think it changes anything with respect to some of the critical arguments and issues that we're trying to deal with right now as far as the whole [same-sex] marriage issue and rights issues more generally," he said.
But he said lobby groups "are not speaking on behalf of quite the number of Canadians that we've been assuming they have been speaking for."
Wayne Harrison, executive director of PFLAG Canada, a group that provides support for people dealing with issues of sexual orientation, said the federal statistic "grossly underestimates" the true number of gays and lesbians in Canada.
"This is very personal information to a lot of people. Some people can't even admit it to themselves, let alone to a stranger," Mr. Harrison said.
Not only do homosexuals distrust what the government will do with the data, the way the sexual orientation question was posed -- in face-to-face and telephone interviews -- was even less likely to elicit an honest response, he said. (Mr. Bibby said the Vanier Institute of the Family survey is based on written questionnaires.)
Mr. Harrison feared the survey question could lead to more discrimination against homosexuals.
"The idea that homosexuality is a choice that can be cured is a big myth. There are a lot of fundamentalist religions who use that information and are lobbying the government today strongly against same-sex marriage on the basis that that myth is a fact," he said. "If they start to see numbers in the small percentages, they may say, `Well, it was 10%, but 9% obviously were cured or chose a different lifestyle.'"
This is the first time Statistics Canada has included a question about sexual orientation in a survey. The 2001 census collected information on same-sex couples, but not sexual orientation.
A total of 34,200 same-sex common-law couples were counted in the census, representing 0.5% of all couples. But, critics say it is not a valid estimate of Canada's homosexual community because it did not include gays and lesbians not living in a same-sex arrangement.
The government says the information in the new survey, collected between January and December, 2003, is needed to better understand differences in health issues between Canada's homosexual, bisexual and heterosexual populations.
Quebec had the highest number of homosexuals or bisexuals, with 2.3%.
Nationally, those aged 45 to 59 were less likely to report being homosexual than younger people.
"That's to be expected, because older people are more likely to be in the closet, because it was a huge stigma, it was criminal 35 years ago," said Laurie Arron, of Canadians for Equal Marriage.
Nearly 22% of homosexuals and bisexuals reported having an unmet health care need in 2003, nearly double the proportion of heterosexuals. "We've heard of cases where doctors don't treat people well when they found out they were gay or lesbian," Ms. Arron said.
Homosexuals and bisexuals were more likely than the general population to smoke and more likely than heterosexuals to find life stressful. But they were less likely to be overweight and were more physically active than the general population.
National Post, Wednesday, June 16, 2004