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People want Google to tell them if their husbands are secretly gay

Is your husband gay? Ask him. Wait, better yet, ask Google. 

 

Jack Flanagan

IRL

Posted on Feb 6, 2014   Updated on May 31, 2021, 7:03 pm CDT

Is your husband gay? Ask him. Wait, better yet, ask Google

You’re in good company. A whole lot of nervous wives want to know.

“Gay” is the most popular word to follow “Is my husband.” It’s a more popular search than “Is my husband having an affair” and “Is my husband depressed.” 


 

You’ll find the same is true for boyfriends:


 

As reported in the New York Times, “Is my husband cheating” has 10% fewer searches than “Is my husband gay.” “Gay” is 10 times more popular than “depressed” and eight times more popular than “alcoholic.” 

Using surveys, social networks, porn sites, and dating sites, Google data scientist and NYT contributor Seth Stephens-Davidowitz attempted to figure out exactly how many gay men lived in the U.S. From these data points, Stephens-Davidowitz got a figure of about 5 percent of the population.

He found that women in conservative states like South Carolina or Louisiana are more likely to question their partner’s sexuality than in more progressive states, where men are more likely to be open about their sexuality. Gay men, concludes Stephens-Davidowitz, are suffering from staying in the closet—but, of course, so are their wives.

Husbands, conversely, aren’t as concerned whether their wives are straight. Judging from Google searches, men care more about whether their wives are still in love with them.


 

Photo by joiseyshowaa (CC BY-SA 2.0)

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*First Published: Feb 6, 2014, 9:20 pm CST