Made some edits: stacked bars, and an adjustment to correct for likely underreporting. Data from [https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RR1695.html](https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RR1695.html), from the 2015 survey of 16500 military service members for health-related data conducted by the DoD. Chart created using Datawrapper.
SantaCruznonsurfer on
The Village People knew what they were doing
Hopesick_2231 on
1. The Navy is even gayer than I expected.
2. The Air Force is significantly less gay than I expected.
wabashcanonball on
“In the Navy, you can sail the seven seas…”
Buff1965 on
Suddenly “In The Navy” by The Village People is playing in my head LOL
someone_like_me on
We lost the discussion on the previous version. It’s OK– half of it was jokes. But I’ll copy over my comment with respect to about three people asking “why”.
> The Navy is the branch with the longest continuous deployments. Once assigned to a ship, a sailor will be there for years, with some stay in port maybe every few months.
>It therefore self-selects men who don’t have/want families.
>This is discussed in the 1993 book “Conduct Unbecoming”, which documents the history of gays in the military up until that time. It also discusses how the the USS LaSalle was known as the gayest ship in the navy (“The Great White Whore of the Arabian Shore”), by self-selecting men who didn’t mind being a long way from home.
ZweitenMal on
My cousin’s son is gay and served in the Navy.
IchBinDurstig on
I wonder how many “seamen” jokes there will be in the comments.
rainburrow on
Ha, I knew it would be the navy before I even looked. We see the ascots and know where we belong
therobshow on
You know what they say in the navy? Any port in a storm. Heh he! Nudge nudge.
Shank_ on
The jokes write themselves
chrissilich on
I wonder what Space Force is like.
Cadusus on
So the Village People were right
LifeIsRadInCBad on
Me, a Navy veteran, looking at the thumbnail: oh I know what that spike on the right is.
Me, opening the link: boom.
timberwolf0122 on
Remeber when all the wing nuts were shitting out their dicks about gays in the military?
ClueMaterial on
THe marine bar should be higher then the navy but they’re all in the closet
chavie on
yvan eht nioj
momu1990 on
So the stereotype of the Navy is true then lol. Honestly, I wonder why. I imagine it is because everyone is stuck on a boat in tight, confined spaces with each other for long periods of time?
BrettHullsBurner on
A bar graph with data from 10 years ago. So beautiful!
-_Vin_- on
Hahaha you know damn well they want to wear that white seaman outfit🤣🤣🤣
carnaIity on
Isn’t there a song about this?
[deleted] on
[deleted]
reachforthetop9 on
Winston Churchill once said that the British Navy had no traditions except “rum, sodomy, and the lash.” Being American, the US Navy doesn’t have rum or the lash and needs to keep up some naval tradition. /s
Pennoyers_Shoe_Co on
Marines: What? No, I’m not gay. I kept my boot bands on.
zignut66 on
The Village People had it right.
Stablebrew on
Silent submarines are a relic form the past?!?!
moaningsalmon on
When I was in boot camp, our RDC asked who was going subs. Then he said “oh so you’re all gay. On subs 100 single men go down, 50 couples come back up.”
squirlz333 on
I wanna see the closeted statistic
RLewis8888 on
I guess, according to MAGA, the US military turns people gay. Time to disband.
ExileNZ on
That’s what happens when you write a catchy song and a funky disco beat.
Pheren on
Yeah the Navy is openly more queer than the other branches, but I GUARANTEE YOU the MC beat out all branches if we count people in the closet or will soon discover something about themselves. “It’s not gay it’s a marine thing” Is a saying for a reason.
psycuhlogist on
Now this is interesting data
bakuva on
Every guy I know in the coast guard did it in part to support their wife/family. They usually dont deploy overseas. That might be why there are less there.
finnjakefionnacake on
so you’re saying i need to pull up to port to find a husband
Human-Assumption-524 on
I find the lack of space force kind of telling. Maybe I’m just prejudicial but for some reason I feel a lot of guardians probably own programming socks.
SaltySaltlicks on
They must have taken their Navy sample by the peer.
SwaMaeg on
Navy vs Coast Guard — interesting
gu_doc on
It’s not gay if you’re underway
buiscuil on
And here I thought the coast guard was the gayest
ipsum629 on
I feel like the gay Navy is a self fulfilling prophecy at this point. It has the gay reputation so gay people think the navy will be more accepting and homophobes avoid it for being too gay, confirming the reputation and perpetuating the trend.
I do know how it started. Back in the day there wasn’t much to do for fun on a naval ship, so sailors started fooling around. There might not be a woman within 500 nautical miles of the ship, so you make do with ensign Dave. The officers realized there wasn’t much they could do other than hint at sailors to keep it quiet, but word spread. The cultural momentum carried it into the modern era when there was more to do and voyages were shorter.
Summitjunky on
🎶 “In the Navy, da, da, dada, da, da, In the Navy…”🎶
dyotar0 on
It must be a bit hard to have a bareback in an F-35.
exig on
Having been in the navy, i can attest. But there was only like 1 incident when 2 dudes got caught while underway…of course there are plenty of empty spaces after taps
First-Ad6435 on
As a gay man who used to live in eastern NC, there are A LOT more gay Marines than those who openly identify as gay.
Dry-Technology6747 on
Did anyone else immediately think of “In the Navy” by the Village People after seeing this?
Wildweyr on
From personal experience allot marines are lying
Easydnesto on
A friend of mine who served as a submariner always said, 150 men go out, 23 couples come back. I now see the data supports it
Turquoise31 on
The Navy: twice as gay as the next leading branch!
![[OC] Gay & Bisexual Men in the US Military, by Branch of Service](https://www.byteseu.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/2qcxy6tnn8of1-1024x854.png "[OC] Gay & Bisexual Men in the US Military, by Branch of Service")
48 Comments
Made some edits: stacked bars, and an adjustment to correct for likely underreporting. Data from [https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RR1695.html](https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RR1695.html), from the 2015 survey of 16500 military service members for health-related data conducted by the DoD. Chart created using Datawrapper.
The Village People knew what they were doing
1. The Navy is even gayer than I expected.
2. The Air Force is significantly less gay than I expected.
“In the Navy, you can sail the seven seas…”
Suddenly “In The Navy” by The Village People is playing in my head LOL
We lost the discussion on the previous version. It’s OK– half of it was jokes. But I’ll copy over my comment with respect to about three people asking “why”.
> The Navy is the branch with the longest continuous deployments. Once assigned to a ship, a sailor will be there for years, with some stay in port maybe every few months.
>It therefore self-selects men who don’t have/want families.
>This is discussed in the 1993 book “Conduct Unbecoming”, which documents the history of gays in the military up until that time. It also discusses how the the USS LaSalle was known as the gayest ship in the navy (“The Great White Whore of the Arabian Shore”), by self-selecting men who didn’t mind being a long way from home.
My cousin’s son is gay and served in the Navy.
I wonder how many “seamen” jokes there will be in the comments.
Ha, I knew it would be the navy before I even looked. We see the ascots and know where we belong
You know what they say in the navy? Any port in a storm. Heh he! Nudge nudge.
The jokes write themselves
I wonder what Space Force is like.
So the Village People were right
Me, a Navy veteran, looking at the thumbnail: oh I know what that spike on the right is.
Me, opening the link: boom.
Remeber when all the wing nuts were shitting out their dicks about gays in the military?
THe marine bar should be higher then the navy but they’re all in the closet
yvan eht nioj
So the stereotype of the Navy is true then lol. Honestly, I wonder why. I imagine it is because everyone is stuck on a boat in tight, confined spaces with each other for long periods of time?
A bar graph with data from 10 years ago. So beautiful!
Hahaha you know damn well they want to wear that white seaman outfit🤣🤣🤣
Isn’t there a song about this?
[deleted]
Winston Churchill once said that the British Navy had no traditions except “rum, sodomy, and the lash.” Being American, the US Navy doesn’t have rum or the lash and needs to keep up some naval tradition. /s
Marines: What? No, I’m not gay. I kept my boot bands on.
The Village People had it right.
Silent submarines are a relic form the past?!?!
When I was in boot camp, our RDC asked who was going subs. Then he said “oh so you’re all gay. On subs 100 single men go down, 50 couples come back up.”
I wanna see the closeted statistic
I guess, according to MAGA, the US military turns people gay. Time to disband.
That’s what happens when you write a catchy song and a funky disco beat.
Yeah the Navy is openly more queer than the other branches, but I GUARANTEE YOU the MC beat out all branches if we count people in the closet or will soon discover something about themselves. “It’s not gay it’s a marine thing” Is a saying for a reason.
Now this is interesting data
Every guy I know in the coast guard did it in part to support their wife/family. They usually dont deploy overseas. That might be why there are less there.
so you’re saying i need to pull up to port to find a husband
I find the lack of space force kind of telling. Maybe I’m just prejudicial but for some reason I feel a lot of guardians probably own programming socks.
They must have taken their Navy sample by the peer.
Navy vs Coast Guard — interesting
It’s not gay if you’re underway
And here I thought the coast guard was the gayest
I feel like the gay Navy is a self fulfilling prophecy at this point. It has the gay reputation so gay people think the navy will be more accepting and homophobes avoid it for being too gay, confirming the reputation and perpetuating the trend.
I do know how it started. Back in the day there wasn’t much to do for fun on a naval ship, so sailors started fooling around. There might not be a woman within 500 nautical miles of the ship, so you make do with ensign Dave. The officers realized there wasn’t much they could do other than hint at sailors to keep it quiet, but word spread. The cultural momentum carried it into the modern era when there was more to do and voyages were shorter.
🎶 “In the Navy, da, da, dada, da, da, In the Navy…”🎶
It must be a bit hard to have a bareback in an F-35.
Having been in the navy, i can attest. But there was only like 1 incident when 2 dudes got caught while underway…of course there are plenty of empty spaces after taps
As a gay man who used to live in eastern NC, there are A LOT more gay Marines than those who openly identify as gay.
Did anyone else immediately think of “In the Navy” by the Village People after seeing this?
From personal experience allot marines are lying
A friend of mine who served as a submariner always said, 150 men go out, 23 couples come back. I now see the data supports it
The Navy: twice as gay as the next leading branch!