Men At Extreme Heights Are More Likely To Be Homosexual, According To Recent Research

The demographics and acceptance of gay men in the USA have shifted significantly over the past few decades. According to Gallup's tracking, the percentage of American adults identifying as LGBTQ has doubled from 3.5% in 2012 to 7.1% in 2021. Among these, the percentage of men identifying as gay has remained relatively stable at around 2-2.5% of the adult population.

The rise in overall LGBTQ identification may be attributed to a greater societal acceptance and more openness in younger generations, but some also argue that there is a type of social contagion going on that makes it much more likely for people to come out as gay. Regionally, the numbers vary, with higher percentages in urban areas and states known for their progressive stances. As more and more people declare themselves to be homosexual, there have been some more research determining whether there are some characteristics that appear as common denominators amongst gay men. Height might be one of them.

Men at Extreme Heights Are More Likely to Be Homosexual, According to Recent Research

The relationship between height and sexual orientation is an intriguing subject that has caught the attention of researchers. A 2017 Canadian study involving 863 participants sought to examine whether androphilic men (attracted to men) and women were shorter on average than gynephilic men (attracted to women) and women, respectively. The study considered both self-reported height and objective measurements.

The findings indicated a genuine height difference between androphilic and gynephilic men, with androphilic men being shorter on average. In contrast, there was no objective height difference found between gynephilic, ambiphilic (bisexual), and androphilic women. Interestingly, the study also showed that self-reported height did not correlate with sexual orientation when controlled for objective height.

These results not only confirmed an objective height difference between androphilic and gynephilic men but also challenged the psychosocial explanation that the previously observed differences were merely distortions in self-reporting. While the study sheds light on an interesting correlation between height and sexual orientation in men, it raises questions about the underlying biological mechanisms. How height might be linked to sexual orientation development remains unclear, and the study prompts further investigation into this complex relationship.

There was also a graph shared on Twitter called "How Height & Queerness Compare." It's clear that many more men on the very short side, as well as the very tall side, are gay compared to the men who are a more average height.

In fact, roughly 17% of men who are 5'0" described themselves as gay or bi, as did 14% of men who are 5'2" and men who are 6'8". Men who are around the average height, which is between 5'10" and 5'11", a mere 9% described themselves as gay or bi. It's not clear where this graph comes from, and many are quick to point out that even 9% of men calling themselves gay is higher than the countrywide statistics of gay men, but it's still an interesting graph to show how different the statistics are when you look at the extreme ends of the height scale.

"Men at the extremes of human height, both the very tall and the very short, are more likely to be homosexuals. This is perhaps indicative of the mutational load theory," @lesliedouglasx tweeted along with the graph. The mutational load theory refers to the concept that a population will carry a collection of deleterious mutations, which are mutations that have negative effects on an individual's fitness and wellbeing. In a population, these harmful mutations can accumulate over time, and this accumulation is referred to as the "mutational load."

Mutational load can be influenced by several factors, including the mutation rate (how often new mutations occur), the effect of the mutations (whether they are mildly or strongly deleterious), and the population's size and structure.

Another study from 1995 focusing on the relationship between height, weight, and sexual orientation in gender-dysphoric males has revealed interestingly similar findings. The study was conducted with a sample of 176 homosexual and 246 nonhomosexual male outpatients, ranging from ages 16 to 65, who expressed discontent with their biological sex.

The investigation stemmed from the authors' clinical observation that homosexual gender-dysphoric males appeared physically smaller than nonhomosexual gender-dysphoric males. Upon analysis, the study confirmed this observation, finding that homosexual gender-dysphoric males were, on average, shorter, lighter, and lighter in proportion to their height compared to their nonhomosexual counterparts.

Additionally, the study discovered that homosexual gender-dysphoric men were shorter than men in the general population, while nonhomosexual gender-dysphoric men were not. The researchers posited that the smaller physique of homosexual gender-dysphoric men might partially explain why they often find more success in passing as women.

The results could have implications for understanding gender identity and might also provide valuable information for clinicians and therapists working with gender-dysphoric patients. Further research might explore how these physical differences impact the psychological well-being and social experiences of homosexual and nonhomosexual gender-dysphoric males.

There certainly needs to be more research conducted before anyone can come to an airtight conclusion, but it does make you wonder how much our physical attributes such as height reflect certain parts of our personality, our preferences, and perhaps even our sexual orientation. You can probably think of men you know personally who are gay that fall into the extreme height category. It's one of those things that you'll never be able to unsee once you see it. But as our society sees the gay population grow larger in such a short amount of time, these kinds of characteristics may be less and less common. It's starting to become harder to deny that there is a social contagion happening in our culture that essentially encourages young adults to come out as gay (or even trans). It's less about a sexual orientation that you're born with and arguably about fitting into a category that is considered cool and current. This will of course skew the data of what type of men identify as gay or bisexual. Those numbers could look very different in the next 10 years.

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