What percentage of married men have sex with other men
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Executive summary
Available population studies and reviews do not give a simple, single “percentage of married men who have sex with other men” as a population-wide figure; instead, researchers report measures of men who have sex with men (MSM) in various ways (ever, past year, identity, attraction) and emphasize measurement challenges and stigma [1]. Systematic reviews and public-health guidance treat MSM as a key population for HIV surveillance and estimate MSM prevalence using multiple methods, but none of the provided sources state a single national percentage of married men who have sex with men [2] [1].
1. What the data actually measure: behavior, identity or attraction, and why that matters
Surveys differ: some ask whether men “ever” had sex with another man, some ask about sex “in the past year,” others ask about sexual identity or attraction — and those domains produce very different percentages [1]. The systematic review of population-based methods warns that stigma, survey question wording, and differing domains (behavior vs identity vs attraction) make a single, comparable estimate difficult to produce [1]. Public-health agencies therefore combine several approaches to approximate the size of the MSM population instead of giving one definitive percent [2].
2. What major sources report about MSM prevalence (general findings)
Population studies cited in the systematic review find that lifetime same-sex sex, attraction, and identity can diverge widely: for example, one Britain study reported 1.5% of men self-identified as gay, 6.5% reported any same-sex attraction, and 5.5% reported same-sex sex ever among men aged 16–74 — illustrating how choice of metric changes the headline number [1]. The World Health Organization frames MSM as a key epidemiological group and sets programmatic targets (e.g., coverage goals), but does not publish a simple married‑men percentage; instead WHO guidance stresses the need for careful estimation methods [2].
3. Why marriage status complicates the question
Available sources document that surveys typically measure MSM behavior in the adult male population overall; few of the cited sources break MSM prevalence down specifically by current marital status [1]. The systematic review notes that measurement is already hard across all men because census systems do not ask directly about sexual behavior and respondents may underreport due to stigma [1]. Therefore, an estimate “percentage of married men who have sex with other men” is not presented in these sources and would require targeted, marriage‑stratified data not found in current reporting (not found in current reporting).
4. Public-health emphasis and why population estimates are pursued
Global public-health work with MSM focuses on HIV surveillance and service coverage — WHO sets targets to reach 95% of MSM with prevention, diagnosis and treatment services by 2025 — which drives efforts to estimate the size of the MSM population for service planning rather than to produce a single behavioral statistic by marital status [2]. The systematic review explains that accurate size estimates are needed for HIV program monitoring, and that multiple methods are used because no one survey question suffices [1].
5. Related sexual‑behavior context among married men (frequency vs. extramarital MSM behavior)
A separate body of literature summarized in these sources documents declines in sexual frequency among married men over time (for example, the share of married men reporting weekly sex fell from 71.1% to 57.7% between 2000 and 2018), but that research addresses sexual frequency within partnerships, not how many married men have male sex partners outside marriage [3] [4]. The trends about declining sexual frequency are robust across multiple sources, but they do not answer the user’s specific question about married men engaging in sex with other men [3] [4].
6. What a researcher would need to produce the requested percentage
To estimate “what percentage of married men have sex with other men” one would need population‑representative survey data that: (a) asks about sexual behavior with sexes of partners, (b) uses a defined recall period (e.g., past year), and (c) records current marital status — and responses must overcome underreporting due to stigma [1]. The systematic review says such designs exist in some national surveys (NHANES, NSFG, NHBS in the United States and comparable studies elsewhere), but synthesizing them into a single married‑men percentage would require reanalysis of those datasets with attention to sampling and disclosure bias [1].
7. Bottom line for readers
Current reporting in the provided sources does not state a single percentage of married men who have sex with other men; the literature instead emphasizes measurement complexity, varying metrics (behavior vs identity vs attraction), and the need for marriage‑stratified analyses that correct for stigma and survey design [1] [2]. If you want a specific figure, the next step is targeted reanalysis of representative surveys (NHANES, NSFG, NHBS or equivalent) restricted to men who report being married and asked about male sexual partners in a defined recall period — those datasets are noted in the systematic review as potential sources but are not summarized here [1].