It's Not 'Straight' or 'Gay,' It's What You've Done

Sept. 20, 2006 — -- Nearly 10 percent of men who told public health pollsters they were straight also told them they'd had sex with a man in the previous 12 months, according to a study conducted in New York City.

While significant questions remain about how reliable these figures are, experts in gay men's medicine say it's a real phenomenon among all ethnic groups and one that should be publicized more.

"It's found among all groups, certainly including white males," said Dr. Stephen Goldstone, whose practice at New York's Mount Sinai Hospital treats mostly gay men.

Recent reports, including a segment on "The Oprah Winfrey Show," have publicized the practice known among African American men as "the down low," in which men "love their wives but have sex with men" -- and don't identify themselves as homosexual.

The new study, based on a 2003 phone survey of 10,000 residents by New York's public health department, found that 38 percent of the men (who said they were straight but had had sex with a man in the previous year) were white, 29 percent were Hispanic, 23 percent black and 10 percent Asian, multiple race or other.

Though there are questions about how accurate the study is, the researchers and health professionals agree that the underlying message is important.

"We still have a lot to learn about how to ask people about this sensitive issue," Dr. Harold Sox, editor of the Annals of Internal Medicine, told ABC News. "The main reason we published it was to send a clear message for doctors -- that it's not enough to just ask a person's sexual identity."

Goldstone agreed that many doctors have a long way to go.

"Sometimes, doctors even assume that because a man has a wedding ring, he's not having sex with men," he said. "The labels homosexual or heterosexual or gay and straight are simply not enough. Doctors must ask specifically 'What are you doing -- have you had sex with a man?'"

"I didn't need this survey to give me the general picture," said Goldstone, who has been treating gay men in the New York area for three decades and is also a professor at Mt. Sinai. "We're now taking great care to teach our medical students about this."