Hmm. Well, consider for instance the Kinsey scale, where humans generally fall somewhere on a scale somewhere between homosexuality and heterosexuality.Veganman wrote: ↑Thu Jun 30, 2022 9:29 am Good point Astro Cat, but I suppose there is a rise in the sense that more are coming out if the closet. I also tend to think that as many people, especially young people, are more willing to experiment these days, this in turn leads to a rise in those who, having experienced something else, wish to continue along this path. Nobody is a lover of red wine, for example, until they've tried it. I also think that a narcissistic society can contribute to an increase in certain sexual orientations, such as bi-sexuality, but as you say, there seems to be little evidence to support these nature/nurture theories.
If some people experiment and find that they have an attraction to the same sex, it's likely that they were always simply somewhere in the middle of the scale.
Other people may try experimenting and find that it just really doesn't light a fire for them. They find themselves at one end of the scale or the other, which is also fine.
So I think the phenomenon you're talking about might be genuine. More people are finding that they're not at the extreme ends of the scale because they are more free to verify that. Had they been born during a more judgmental time than we even are now, they might never have learned that about themselves.
(I myself am one of the "end scalers." I've never been able to conjure an attraction to men, and that's OK too.)