Gays and lesbians, like heterosexuals, make love for a variety of reasons and use a variety of positions. Sexuality, for all people, heterosexual or homosexual, can be an expression of deep love, affection, or lust. Some gay and lesbian people have sexual experiences
with members of the other sex at some point in their lives and have considered themselves bisexual in the past (Rosario et al., 1996). Because most people identify the homosexual community primarily by its sexuality, sex is always close to the surface. However, gay men and lesbians view their community as broader, with sexuality as only one component.
As we discussed in Chapter 10, Masters and Johnson (1979) found that arousal and orgasm in homosexuals was physiologically no different than in heterosexuals. They also found, however, that homosexuals tend be slower, more relaxed, and less demanding with each other during sex. Male and female homosexual couples spend more time sexually “teasing” and caressing each other, bringing their partners to the brink of orgasm and then withdrawing, before beginning direct genital stimulation. Heterosexuals tend to be more goal oriented and spend less time at each phase of arousal than same-sex couples. Perhaps, Masters and Johnson suggest, this is because men and women know what pleases them, and so they have an immediate, intuitive understanding of what would please another member of their own sex.