THE MEDIAN HETEROSEXUAL MAN OR WOMAN (AGE 18-60) REPORTS SOMEWHERE BETWEEN FOUR AND SIX OPPOSITE SEX PARTNERS IN THEIR LIFETIME. Meanwhile, the median gay man has notably more partners-reporting between 16 and 20 same-sex sexual partners to this point in their lifetime. Lesbian women, too, report about the same number of partners. The median heterosexual man or woman (age 18-60) reports somewhere between four and six opposite sex partners in their lifetime. Indeed, 30 percent of gay men report over 50 male sexual partners in their lifetimeīut what is typical? How many sexual partners does the average adult have? The exception to this is self-identified gay men.
Thus, the experience of large numbers of sexual partners is uncommon for the vast majority of the population. On the opposite end of the spectrum, very few people report high numbers of lifetime sexual partners: just two (2) percent of heterosexual 37 women and three (3) percent of heterosexual men report having had more than 50 opposite-sex sexual partners, while two (2) percent of self-identified lesbian women 38 have had over 50 female partners. Figure 8.1 Number of lifetime opposite-sex sexual partners: heterosexuals
