HOMOSEXUAL OFFENDERS VS. CHILDREN: EXTENSIVE HOMOSEXUALITY

Over half (59 per cent) of the homosexual offenders vs. minors had had extensive homosexual experience, which we define as having had sexual contact with more than a score of males. Only one group, the homosexual offenders vs. adults, had a larger proportion of extensively experienced individuals.

In terms of the percentage of these male sexual partners who were “pickups,” i.e., unknown prior to the sexual activity, the homosexual offenders vs. minors with extensive homosexuality were essentially like the equivalent homosexual offenders vs. children. One third estimated that over 80 per cent of their partners were “pickups,” a figure which, while substantial, is less than that of the prison group, the homosexual offenders vs. adults, and the control group.

Concerning who took the initiative in inaugurating homosexual activity, the homosexual offenders vs. minors are again like the homosexual offenders vs. children in showing a decided tendency to take the initiative. Some 70 per cent took the initiative more often than not, only 15 per cent the reverse, and the same proportion said the overtures were mutually balanced. Of course it is usually necessary for the adult to take the initiative where children and young teen-age males are concerned. To put it bluntly, the thirteen- or fourteen-year-old usually does not (unless he is a prostitute) proposition a male in his twenties or older.

This same matter of age preference seems, with one exception, to have reduced the commercial homosexual behavior of the homosexual offenders vs. minors. Relatively few (15 per cent) had been or were prostitutes, and a fairly large number (37 per cent) had never received

or given money in connection with homosexual activity. The one exception mentioned above consists of the 29 per cent (the largest proportion of any of the groups compared) who had paid, but had never been paid, for homosexual acts. This emphasis on payment is again tied in with disparity in age. Just as in the heterosexual groups, the old must frequently supplement their attractions with cash in order to obtain sexual relationships with the young. While the homosexual offender vs. children could “buy” his partners’ favors with tickets to the movies or with candy, the homosexual offender vs. minors preferred partners who were too worldly to be fobbed off with such childish bait; they wanted money. At this point we must make it clear that such payment was not necessarily regarded by either party as unabashed prostitution. In many instances the financial transaction was disguised as a gift or loan, even though both males recognized that niggardliness on the adult’s part could well jeopardize any future sexual relations. The situation is analogous to that, say, of the fifty-year-old businessman and the twenty-year-old showgirl; both would honestly resent an insinuation of prostitution, but both know that money is an integral part of the relationship.

Three quarters (the second largest proportion displayed by any group) of the homosexual offenders vs. minors with extensive homosexual histories reported having loved one or more males. Slightly over half (again the second largest proportion) had loved more than one male. This finding by itself would suffice to demonstrate the strength of the psychological orientation of these offenders. It would be unfair to depict them as aging “aunties” preying upon the immature; in many instances a real and deep relationship existed. One not infrequent tragedy is that the love was not mutual: the adult was deeply involved emotionally and dreaded the inevitable dissolution of the affair, while the teenager with the unthinking callousness of youth merely regarded him as a “nice guy,” but not as any vita] part of his life.

Like the homosexual offenders vs. children, few (27 per cent) of the homosexual offenders vs. minors with extensive homosexual histories displayed any identifying mannerisms. Such habits of dress or behavior seem primarily associated with homosexuality between adults, most are conscious affectations, others have through habit become involuntary, but all are culturally determined.

Of the groups containing a number of persons with extensive homosexual histories sufficient for statistical treatment—the three homosexual-offender groups, the prison group, and possibly the control group—the homosexual offenders vs. minors suffered the most regret over their homosexuality. Seventeen per cent were not greatly concerned, but nearly half expressed much regret. The amount of regret in their case is not far from that expressed by the homosexual offenders vs. children, but definitely exceeds that of the homosexual offenders vs. adults and far exceeds that reported by the prison and control groups. Such regret usually is not a moralistic guilt reaction, but a realistic appreciation of the social, legal, and emotional difficulites that beset the adult who is interested sexually in either boys or girls.

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