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DiscussionIt looks to me like a disproportionate amount of serial killers are gay, is this the case as far as you guys can see as well? There is no homophobic intent behind this, just an observation. (self.serialkillers)

submitted by SonnyManjaro

I hope this doesnt offend anyone. I tried googling this but found nothing, and I'd like to know if others have noted the same trend or if im just being biased and not realizing it. Im no authority on serial killers but it seems like out of the prominent ones a disproportionate amount of the male ones were gay. Just to name those that instantly jump in my mind: Dahmer, Gacy, Bruce Mcarthur, Dean Corll (Gacy studied him), Robert Berdella.... that's just to name the ones I could think of without having to look more up but I've read about several more less prominent killers that were also gay. I know the actual number of gay men in society may be difficult to pinpoint due to many still feeling the need to remain closeted. Along with that, the fact that sexuality exists as more of a spectrum than something bound by specific rigid labels would also make it a bit more difficult to definitely state an accurate number of "gay" male killers as opposed to someone who was open to both sexes or primarily straight but still willing to engage in homosexual acts and even some that may seem to be fully straight but were in fact on the down low. All of these make this a fairly muddy question to address with certainty but despite this I still feel like in comparison to their proportion of the general population that gay men are overrepresented amongst serial murderers.

What do you guys think? Am I just falling victim to self confirmation bias or do any of you guys notice something similar?

One more time I'd like to say I am in no way homophobic and this isnt an attack or a negative assessment of the LGBT community at all. I apologize in advanced if my post offends anyone, I swear that is absolutely in no way my intention with this post and observation. Just trying to share some thoughts.

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[–]chickendance638 297 points298 points  (2 children)

The data sample needed to get a firm answer to this question is simply not available (at least to the public). There are so many variables, including the under-reporting of homosexuality or bisexuality in the normal population. There's also the issue of classifying sexuality in people who are more turned on by violence than sex. Even if you had that data we'd still have no idea what the real numbers are because all the information we have is from killers that were caught. Can't look at what you can't see.

[–]HentaiSniper420 63 points64 points  (0 children)

the under-reporting of homosexuality in the normal population was my first thought. you don't normally know most people's sexuality because it's not something that ever needs to come up, but in the case of serial killers where there was a sexual element to their crime, you know their sexuality because it's tied up with why that person is infamous in the first place.

[–]Shmaaakespeare 190 points191 points  (20 children)

This might be because psychopaths don’t really have boundaries. It might be that a lot of people are more sexually fluid than they appear, but feel bound by social lines or expectations. So maybe we aren’t seeing a high amount of serial killers that are gay but a high amount of serial killers that don’t care about what sexual things they dip into (not that being gay makes you not care about social boundaries)

[–]Baldricks_Turnip 53 points54 points  (0 children)

Yes, I'm reminded of a line from Shawshank Redemption discussing the predatory character Bogs; he's not homosexual because you "have to be human first". I would imagine that some serial killers that kill men do so out of a distortion of their homosexuality, in the same way many others who kill women do so out of a distortion of their heterosexuality, but I think for many it is as you describe: they are out to hurt whoever they can and opportunity or circumstance allows them to select male victims. Similarly, many killers who target children are not paedophiles in the textbook sense, they are just opportunistic child molesters who seek vulnerable targets.

[–]juddshanks 29 points30 points  (0 children)

I think you've nailed it.

It's not necessarily that more serial killers are gay, but it makes sense that a serial killer is more likely to act on closeted impulses than average joe sixpack.

I think there are plenty of people in society who are 'a bit gay' but are unlikely to ever act on it or admit it to themselves because the social consequences are too grave.

[–]dopeandmoreofthesame 58 points59 points  (9 children)

This is more accurate I believe. In the same way they are necrophiliacs, pedophiles, rapists, etc. But they sleep with or kill a guy and all the news says is homosexual serial killer as if that’s worse than the other ones.

[–]MetalLava 58 points59 points  (0 children)

Yeah, a lot of them aren't even gay, but they get pleasure from hurting people. Just like the phrase goes that rape is more about power than sex.

[–]SonnyManjaro[S] 2 points3 points  (6 children)

But the ones I listed were exclusive interested in male victims, as are many others ive read about. I don't think any of the evidence supports serial killers just being open to whatever. On the contrary most seem to have a type even beyond gender, all the way down to specific hairstyles or colors or ages or whatever. You know what I mean? It's not like Dahmer or Gacy just happened to have all male victims because they're open to whatever, it's what they sought out, to the exclusion of females intentionally.

[–]Mrwackawacka 102 points103 points  (0 children)

My guess would be that they were either stigmatized far more, or even physically abused because of being gay.

This in turn set them on a path of being outside society and introduced a lack of empathy later on in life

Why being gay over the usually drunken abusive father? I think mentally there is a difference when your perfectly normal father beats the shit out of you bc of who you are compared to him coming home in a drunken rage. You start to blame yourself and try to do small things in claim back that power that you lost as a child

[–]misslaylapie 61 points62 points  (1 child)

I thought this too but really I think we just hear about them more or maybe Remember them better because it’s actually more rare and more dramatic of a story usually. The amount of women killed by heterosexual men is astronomical.

[–]jsparker77 14 points15 points  (0 children)

I believe this is the correct answer. Most people have an extremely narrow view of serial killers since they seem to think the ones that become famous are the only ones and therefore the template for all serial killers. The truth is that the ones who became famous did so because their stories/motivations are so bizarre and abnormal. There's tons of other serial killers that didn't get national press and documentaries made about them because they were "boring" and killed for "normal" reasons like money and fraud. All these sexually motivated ones are just a subset, but they're the most fascinating, so they become celebrities and thus the face of what people think all serial killers are.

[–]throwawaybcirl 45 points46 points  (0 children)

Hi there! I’m a forensic psychology student and we actually just covered a case about a bi guy killing a guy today so good timing I guess. I would agree that there are a decent amount of famous/well-known serial killers that appear to be gay, but I would (without looking into it further) hazard that the majority are straight.

The majority of killers are white straight men with female victims, so I would agree with previous commenters who said it’s more likely that we just hear about the gay ones because it’s out of the norm.

Fun facts from class today: Gay men are more likely to overkill in their murders, and are likely to attack the head rather than the gentalia. This is because in most of these same sex murders, they are identity killings not sexual killings: the murderers are trying to kill what they feel the victim represents (the feelings of homosexuality that they struggle with).

[–]guuurchin 64 points65 points  (10 children)

Bundy, Green River Killer, Grim Sleeper, Golden State Killer, BTK, Kemper, Berkowitz, Lipstick Killer, Alcala, H.H. Holmes, Ramirez, Speck, Wuornos, Gunness...

[–]withdavidbowie 36 points37 points  (2 children)

Thank you. I really don’t understand how 5 people (listed by OP) is a “disproportionate amount.”

[–]Purpledoves91 11 points12 points  (1 child)

Wuornos was in a relationship with a woman. But I don't know that she was actually gay as much as she just wanted someone to love her.

[–]elLebowski 71 points72 points  (2 children)

I think this is likely confirmation bias. I have seen no study showing serial killers disproportionately skew homosexual.

[–]Kgaset 2 points3 points  (0 children)

☝ This.

Though it's truly impossible to know given that limited information we have culturally, and the even more limited information we know about serial killers, the fact that it appears that way to some is more a symptom of confirmation bias than anything else. In that mindset, one more readily calls to mind the serial killers with homosexual predilections than the countless others without them.

[–]fluffypuppiness 24 points25 points  (19 children)

I think it's more that reported cases that gain media traction are about gay men, I think that plays a large part into it. In the garnd scheme of things our acceptance of gay men us still quite new, so the media will often still try to make them 'boogey men' now that is changing thank god.

Now another factor (thank you LPOTL) for serial killers I think is a lot of them grew up troubled, and troubled boys were often sent to schools where they were raped by other boys. Now I'm not saying that being raped changes your sexuality or determines it, not in the slightest. But these boys may have taken rape as less sexual and more about taking back control and harming others. When the people who harmed you were other men you may be taking back control from those that hurt you by using other men as proxies. If you look at a lot of serial killers who were gay they often also had relationships with women, I'd argue more serial killers are bisexual, not gay, but have a preference toward male victims. Again I don't think this applies to all serial killers or gay serial killers, but it's just pattern I've noticed reading on serial killers.

[–]misslaylapie 6 points7 points  (1 child)

Hail Satan

[–]garbageplanet 5 points6 points  (9 children)

I dunno, I think being raped can alter someone's sexuality. I watched this documentary about prison bitches once, it was about how certain men become the "women" in a prison situation. One dude was not even gay when he was incarcerated but he basically acted like a woman to survive in prison. Maybe he would go back to being straight when he got out but maybe not. I wish i could remember the name of this documentary but I randomly watched it on youtube like a couple years ago.

Also, anecdotally, I had loads of gay friends in my youth and several of my gay male friends confided that they were molested when they were young, mostly by close family members like brothers or male cousins. I can't find any info thru googling but I wonder if it is possible for someone to be made gay, but this topic is so politically fraught it would probably be impossible to find out the truth.

[–]DueTrek -4 points-3 points  (6 children)

"Now I'm not saying" Be blunt man. I hate when people say this.

[–]Bipedleek 24 points25 points  (0 children)

Probably confirmation bias

[–]17olivba 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I think a lot of the time serial killers get sexual pleasure out of killing itself, regardless of the victims gender so it might be more of them being turned on by the kill rather than them being traditionally gay. Could be wrong idk I just finished Mindhunter.

[–]Zombie-Belle 10 points11 points  (3 children)

I don't think so I'd say more like 60% hetro from my experience in true crime

[–]The_Brain_Fuckler 19 points20 points  (0 children)

But a tiny minority of people are gay, so gay killers are really over-represented.

[–]SonnyManjaro[S] 0 points1 point  (1 child)

That would support my post then because 40% of people are not gay. Im not saying most killers are gay, I'm saying they're overrepresented, meaning if let's just say 4% of American men are gay but 25% of americsn male killers are gay and 75% are straight then gay men are overrepresented and are becoming killers at a higher rate than heterosexuals. You see what Im saying? It's not a majority claim im making.

Also those numbers were just made up to illustrate my point. Not trying to imply that they're factual.

[–]Iowa_and_Friends 10 points11 points  (1 child)

Openly gay woman here...

I wouldn’t say disproportionate...

Yes, like anything, you’re going to find straight and gay criminals and killers too. Who someone is attracted to sexually is only one component of who they are as a whole.

I definitely agree with some of the comments here.

Sexuality is such a fluid thing. Once you start looking at it from a biological standpoint...we’re animals, we get horny, it’s biology. what I think makes more sense is they probably got such a rush from killing that it spilled over and made them sexually excited too.

Even if the person was actually gay...back in the day when that was super taboo, and people felt the need to hide it...that could definitely play a part in why they felt the need to lash out and take their control back and prey on somebody.

It’s certainly not the ONLY thing that would make someone commit murder—but if you already have the other traits (history of abuse, sociopathic disorder, etc)—repressing being gay certainly doesn’t help things either...

Also, when it comes to the ones that preyed on younger victims—I don’t consider pedophiles technically “gay”. They’re in a category of their own. Gay people are attracted to other adults. Pedophilia meanwhile is abuse. I agree with the comments it’s more an act of power and domination, and not so much sexual attraction.

[–]officerhaughtpants 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Openly gay too. I agree.

[–]katchafire99 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Or a hige number of truck drivers are serial killers... same goes really. They take advantage of their niche gay people back in the day were hidden and performed risky behavior like many women who walked the streets working. It was a niche to be exploited by serial killers

[–]HogmanayMelchett 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I don't think there are many more gay killers proportionally relative to the gay population. Where you might have something is that several of the gay killers have racked up a large body count because missing men and in the past teenage boys wasn't considered as alarming as missing girls, unless they were prostitutes. But look at how many women are killed every year by truckers. Look at the body count of Samuel Little, Gary Ridgway and Robert Pickton

[–]YungWannabeOptimist 2 points3 points  (0 children)

“Disproportionate amount” is incorrect. I think if you truly went through the list, you’d see that the opposite is more likely to be true.

[–]burntfortress 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Gay /straight/ whatevs is a sexual preference. I think there’s more to it typically with killers in most situations that are beyond sexual preferences. A lot of it is more of a domination/ power thing as opposed to a sexual preference which would kinda imply they have feelings or connection beyond the lust to cause pain, humiliate, swell their ego... I think often it’s a power play like when a dog humps another dog to show domination rather that he wants a boyfriend.

[–]Amadeus762 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Well. Lets think about it this way. Most psychopaths are very bold individuals who operate very much through their own moral compass or without a moral compass at all. This makes it very easy to disregard conventional notions of sexuality and morality regarding violence, especially when in the early 1900s and 1800s, being gay was a huge deal. In addition, I can think of many more serial killers who are straight (if you can call necrophilic straight) than gay. Though I agree there are a lot. John Wayne Gacy, Albert Fish, Wayne B. Williams, Jeffrey Dahmer, Andrew Cunanan (I think hes actually a spree killer), Dean Corll. Though almost all of the above are actually more pedophilic than simply homosexual.

[–]tide3305 1 point2 points  (1 child)

Andrew Cunanan is another gay serial killer

[–]Bipedleek -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I don’t know, he’s more of a spree killer

[–]drunky_crowette 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I can think of 6 gay (Dahmer, Gacy, Ireland, Bowles, Port, McAuthur, Nilsen) compared to so many straight (Raider, Bundy, Shipman, Gein, Holmes, López, Camargo, Filho, Chikatilo, Ridgeway, etc)

[–]withdavidbowie 3 points4 points  (0 children)

5 is not a “disproportionate amount”

[–]sargentbutter1010 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yeah theres a good amount of gay serial killers. That could be due to there abusive childhood if they had one. Most serial killers do. Most likely sexual abuse from the parent or a friend of the family. With that, probably verbal abuse as well.

[–]wantokieweb 1 point2 points  (0 children)

i’ve noticed this too, maybe it’s just one part of a big group of deviant behaviors. not saying that i think being gay is a deviant behavior, but a serial killer will internalize all of those deviant behaviors and will be ashamed. then they finally express it / explode and u know the rest ...

[–]dietcokeangel 3 points4 points  (1 child)

Yeah no, gay people are likely to be VICTIMS of serial killer that targets them. Media sensationalism of a very few cases, have skewed the results. Hetero men are far more likely to be serial killers than gay men and women. (Since they kill women, no one gives a shit).

[–]SonnyManjaro[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Right, you're misunderstanding my position. Im not claiming that the majority are gay. I stated that they seem to be overrepresented relative to their representation in the general population. So if 75% of killers are straight, then that supports my assumption because 25% is a much larger figure than the percentage of men that are gay. You see what Im saying? Not saying im right, just trying to clarify my point as I think you mistook it.

[–]jokes_on_you_boomer 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yes you're right lgbtq people are more likely to have a shitty life and shitty lives make serial killers

[–]LegoPaco 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I smell an anecdotal observation.

[–]TeffertemPhoenix 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Didn't get past the first sentence as you bafflingly state "I tried googling it but couldn't find anything" perplexing me to think not only that you've made an extremely loaded assumption without any evidence but you've defied all odds by using a computer considering you're more of an incoherent confused babbling vegetable than Anne Frank is at a bukkake.

[–]MeltEarthToSea 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes. Quite a lot of them are gay. Good observation.

[–]MulderYuffie 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I would have to say that growing up gay is hard you caj be proud but still hurt by people who should care. A lot of these killers were from a time that absolutely hated them from the get go and evem do unspeakable things to them if possible it's truly horrific. I do think they are remembered by victim count more often than not however. With say Dean Corll I truly believe his overbearimg mother who absolutely hates gay and took every chance she could to berate them had something to do with it and lets not forget he grew up in a sundown down so that was pretty swell as well I imagine.

I feel after his mother left he finally took things to another level not only giving into his sexual desires but literally killing his desires in hopes of gratification or hope that it'll pass. It didn't and while I feel such deep sorrow for those who lost their lives because of his continous madness, those hundreds of family members who never lived or will live the same again but also Dean himself who I've always strongly felt that if he was born in this day and age with pride, gay marriage and people around every corner to talk to that he definitely wouldn't have turned out the way he did.

[–]katiejill127 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The common link between so many of them is power and control, I think they get more out of predatory behavior than what healthy people consider sexuality. Many on your list were repressed, but also several specifically harmed young people. That's not so much about gender anymore.

[–]Sumoki_Kuma 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This makes me think of John Wayne Gacy. His dad always called him names and degraded and abused him for being close to his mom and liking "girly" things which festered a great shame in him surrounding his sexuality.

This is a theme with a good amount of serial killers but it's not always regarding sexuality. A lot of serial killers (if not most) had some or other severe trauma in their childhoods which shaped the hateful, violent, psychopathic ways they think and act.

I think it has less to do with the fact that they are gay and more to do with the rage and hatred and shame their sexuality garnered. It's more a case of adding fuel to the fire.

[–]tenbar-from-nanna 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think the sexual abuse of serial killing victims is less to do with conventional homosexuality and has more to do with the twisted sex-killing fantasy these killers demonstrate.

I wouldn't say they were gay in a conventional sense, because raping and killing males for gratification isn't necessarily a conventional expression of homosexuality

kinda like how paedophiles who abuse exclusively young boys aren't really "gay"

[–]PPStudio 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It's interesting because from Post-Soviet perspective most serial killers seem to be heterosexuals and hunting women. There's this classic dominant stereotype of a serial killer: white straight male with an MO sharing similarities to Jack the Ripper. Which is also a tad incorrect and not as dominant as it seems. I do believe that truth lies somewhere in the middle.

[–]Jamblamkins 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Theres a few reasons for the observation. One is with regard to repressed gay men who become violent.

Two is the serial killers sometimes perform acts that seem to be gay, but in reality are dominance related. Some aren’t gay but would rape a guy to cause him misery and make him feel powerless.

Theres many reasons for discrepancies is my main point.

But i do imagine serial killers would be more inclined to be bisexual since it allows more victims and greater ability to manipulate victims. Nothing necessarily to do with sexual preference but target availability.

[–]Zbaus1 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Being a predator has no real orientation, it's about power over everything. However there are so any factors in serial killers development and personalities that the data isn't there to say.

[–]Audriannacu 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It’s a very interesting question, and I think the answer is very complex and multi-faceted. Society has stigmatized homosexuality in a large way especially in the past, which makes for self-loathing, from all the pressures that come from the outside world and your own family. We can’t minimize the effect of the world telling you who you are is deemed repugnant and you will never be accepted, fit in, or deserve caring from the outside world. Compound that with an abusive home life and mental illness. Also a lot of these people have morphed whatever sexuality they have to be sadistic and violent so can we even classify it as “homosexual” anymore? If you enjoy raping and killing a man or a woman, does that just make you a violent psychotic?

[–]RaptureHarvest 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I feel like there is multiple reasons why it seems like there a more serial killers who is gay. Be ware, this is not scientific proven, but just what I would think could be some of the reasons.

First of all, I want to say I mean no offense by anything I write, and I hope no one takes it the wrong way.

The first reason I can think of, is that a lot of the serial killers we know about were in a time, where it still weren’t really socially acceptable to be gay. This can put a lot of pressure on people, because they feel like they need to hide who they are. This kind of pressure, plus a bad home environment, is something that could make someone break. Also, even though they may got consent they could be scared, that the other person would reveal their secret.

The second reason is, that we tend to lean more on the fact, that they are gay. This is due to the presentation as a gay man/woman who killed. When we see a straight serial killer, no one would say “this straigh serial killer killed x people”. So the word “gay” stands out in our head, and we tend to remember this more.

There could be more reasons to why it seems like it, but this is what I could think of for now. I can’t say if there in reality is more gay serial killers than straight though.

[–]notthecrane 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It's probably been said in this thread already but the prominence of these killers was higher in the past when being gay wasn't as accepted as it is now. My thought is that these people were already different and having been gay maybe brought on even more trauma in their childhoods or their family lives growing up? Just my uneducated guess really.

[–]Zambiiieee 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm thinking that it's possible that having to stay closeted and knowing society will not accept you for who you are could contribute to the trauma these killers use as an excuse to commit awful crimes. A lot of these men had abusive childhoods, when you're constantly beaten and abused over and over for something you can't control you might internalize that in an unhealthy way. Not at all saying being abused over your sexuality is an excuse for murder, it just possible that they use that trauma to fuel their reasoning. With that being said, there are millions of LGBTQA+ people who have dealt with homophobia and abuse related to being part of the community and they did not turn into serial killers.

[–]krukid360 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Well i feel it is more about repressed sexual feelings than about being gay. There is this unhealthy way in which these characters approach sex which is considered deviant by society so apart from their normal self they have this 'dark passenger' within who carries out these acts.

[–]FromKittyToKara 0 points1 point  (0 children)

From what I’ve noticed, sometimes it’s the time period. Being gay was illegal for a long time. So maybe to them (beside being sociopaths) may as well push the boundaries, maybe the first time was an accident but till got them hard. Sometimes it’s a cycle of abuse, they were molested or raped as kids, so it’s normal. Which is how lots of pedophiles get cultivated. The only way the feel like they have control.

[–]Greve_Dracula 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Its simple gays are first of all fake interdemsional space demons that is second point is when and why then i Will know

[–]sakshamr30 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I've been thinking this for such a long time... But never said it out loud because people will judge it. Being a student of psychology, I can understand some parts as to why that is.. Like, why these serial killers have fluid sexualities.. It's complex. P

[–]jenellelease 0 points1 point  (0 children)

my best take on this would be that gay people are much more likely to be abused and criticized by their families and environments which can make someone twisted and aggressive

[–]FluidInterest8 0 points1 point  (0 children)

There was a lot, and a lot who had some sort of sexual dysfunction.

[–]SmugDrunk 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hard to say. As so many will not admit to it in jail (not wanting to be anyone’s punk).

I think the reason you hear about the sexuality of so many is because they want to point it out as sexual disfunction. Looking back even 20 years we see how homosexuality was considered a disfunction in and of itself. So really there is even a possibility that some of those that were discussed as homosexuals may not have been.

[–]LaurenceTalbot 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Dean Corell, the Candyman, he killed teenage and under. Herb Baumeister he killed younger men in 20s. Lived at Fox hollow Farm. I probably misspelled. Y’all stay safe.

[–]Smegma_on_bread 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ok so repression tends to equals expression on a trauma basis, I’m pretty sure like 85% of all rapists and molesters where sexual abused in some form as children, and then in teen hood trauma can be sexualised not always but their are patterns that indicate this, note that I’m not say the majority of rape and molestation victims will become rapists themselves but that rapists had a tendency to have had those experiences in childhood, this isn’t so much linking to gay, but linking trauma to sex through out teen hood, for instance the Brain stereotypically tends to attempt to normalise the traumatic situation when it becomes relevant like a loosing your virginity the first time is usually pretty awkward but memorable and our brain tries to improve our actions for the next time, now apply that to being raped as a child, what can the brain apply from such a horrible but in physical nature sexual engagement, it’s default is to learn from the experience but it usually doesn’t understand the extent of the experience so it tries to figure it out, and in the case of rapists serial killers etc... they were molested by a man usually which they’re brain took as ‘men’ ‘sex’ that’s all which is really sad, this is a pretty sad topic now that I think about it.

Ok so this is probably really confusing but I do hope it makes some sense. I guess pm if you have any questions??

[–]Luke79AU 0 points1 point  (0 children)

A lot of them have sexual deviancies, including homosexuality. It was once considered a sign.

[–]sanchostacos420 0 points1 point  (0 children)

As a gay man I have noticed this theme. Coming out can be a difficult, Sexual repression when turned into agression in the case of someone mentally unstable is particularly dangerous. In order to compare sexualities and traits of serial killers in order to develop a psychological profile I believe serial killers can be just like anyone and come in all shapes and sizes. Coming out is an extremely hectic and difficult time for many (I can imagine it'd be more difficult when these men had killed because it was more stigmatized) There are many factors which we can use to profile individuals to create a psychological profile, such as sexuality, race, religion, political affiliation, class, parental guidance, area, genetics and thousands of other things. I believe if you're already portray physical and sexual agression and come out it can maybe just add fuel to the fire.

[–]sanchostacos420 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It's also worth noting that sexual assault is a common factor in this, there have been studies stating that sexuality has very little to do with violent sexual crimes. It's really about power.

Dahmer had used chemicals to sedate his victims for the soul reason of: power

Gacy: tied his victims up for the soul reason of: power

Also another factor that can potentially play in is past sexual trauma.

[–]Sluetheroo 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I don't think we actually have enough data to make a judgement on this issue. It seems to me that killers have tastes for most groups of people. People of all races, sexes, and sexualities have been targeted by different killers. There are too many victims we don't know about to say that one demographic, (gay men, in this example) is is more targeted than another.

[–]Both_Writer [score hidden]  (0 children)

/u/arweavethis

[–]sfmarkh 0 points1 point  (6 children)

Don't know if that's true. Why are the majority of serial killers white?

[–]misslaylapie 1 point2 points  (2 children)

I think there are a lot more black serial killers out there than people realize. If you look at Anthony Sowell, he wasn’t caught for a long time because his victims were also black and really nobody cared (authority- wise, I mean ). Also the Atlanta child murders. It’s all about who the victims are.

[–]Philodemus1984 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I agree with those who note that serial killers tend to murder within their own race and the murder of people of color has historically been taken less seriously by authorities.

But I’d also point out the obvious fact that the majority of people in the US are white so it’s not surprising that the majority of serial killers in the US would be white.

The OP never said the majority of serial killers are gay, only that a disproportionate number of them are. So if the percentage of gay serial killers is more than roughly 10%, that would be disproportionate compared to the general population.

[–]Bipedleek 0 points1 point  (0 children)

They are only a slim majority, if you look at data 52% of serial killers are white. And given that serial killers in South America, Africa and the Middle East go unnoticed, I’m willing to bet that the majority of serial killers aren’t white

[–]tommyhunz 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Because they get caught

[–]jesuslaves 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I don't think there's any direct correlation to be made here in terms of the relation between gay men and psychotic killing, though what I think can be presumed is that due to the fact that gay relationships exist(ed) more so on the fringes of society, this circumstance lend itself opportune for the type of criminal activity that involves serial murder.

For instance if you look at the cases of the serial killers you mentioned, there's a huge similarity in terms of their MOs. In most cases the killers lured victims into their homes with promises of sex, something characteristic of cruising/hook up culture, the secrecy or the "down low" aspect of it made the victims much more vulnerable in these circumstances, they were less likely to inform anyone about their plans or make their whereabouts known, which for serial killers was the ideal circumstance to be able to get away with their crimes.

So I think the seemingly disproportionate number of serial killers being gay, has less to do with their sexuality in and of itself, but more so the social structures that make certain demographics more susceptible to be affected by this type of murder, who happen to be targets of mostly heterosexual and gay men...and those are usually people who are placed lower on the social totem pole and/or treated as second class citizens: transient people, prostitutes, gays, people of color, women, of course taking into consideration the intersectionality between those demographics.

[–]Sumoki_Kuma 0 points1 point  (2 children)

I also found this with one Google search so you should maybe have looked a bit harder

However, in a dated study conducted in 2003, 69% of serial killers were either self-described homosexuals or engaged in homosexual behavior “immediately, prior to, during or after committing their murders.”

https://www.google.com/amp/s/libertynewsnow.com/gay-communitys-serial-killer-problem/article657/amp

[–]SonnyManjaro[S] 0 points1 point  (1 child)

How many pages back did you have to go? Idk, I checked about 5 pages and didnt find anything discussing this. Maybe I have some kind of safe search on and it's blocking stuff out or something idk. I'll check it out.

[–]Ace_Masters 0 points1 point  (1 child)

I've always found gay serial killers get ignored. They might be prevalent bit they get ignored

[–]sheilagirlfriend 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I can’t agree with that. Dahmer, Dennis Nilsen, Gacy...some of the most known serial killers. All gay.

[–]Li-renn-pwel 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I don’t have many answers for this but I would like to point a lot of ‘gay’ killers are actually bisexual. I honestly think the proportions aren’t too out there just that we focus on the sensational. Priests aren’t more likely to sexually assault children and when they do they are more likely to assault young girls. However because gay pedo priests are extra sensational we focus on those cases.

[–]theranciddwarf -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I've always thought this was because of homophobes and the horrible things bred into the minds of young boys about being gay means all these horrible things. Religious arsewipes that take out their ignorance on young boys and abusing them, turning them into monsters. If they had been loved and accepted as they were, I don't think they'd have killed anyone.

[–]sezacat -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I never saw this connection but I would think it would be because they may feel some sort of rage against the world for being stigmatized or not accepted