MARYLAND – The government has been fiercely criticized for funding a study into how the size of a gay man’s penis affects his sex life and general well-being with particular focus on whether penis size results in the decision to be a “top” or a “bottom.”
The report, entitled The Association Between Penis Size and Sexual Health Among Men Who Have Sex with Men, was carried out by the National Institutes of Health.
The survey took data from a diverse sample of 1,065 men who have sex with men and was used to explore the association between perceived penis size and a variety of psychosocial outcomes. According to the findings, 7 percent of men felt their penis was “below average,” 53.9 percent “average,” and 35.5 percent “above average.” The survey found men with below average penises were significantly more likely to identify as “bottoms” and men with above average penises were significantly more likely to identify as “tops.”
Andrea Lafferty, president of the Traditional Values Coalition, said, “This country is broke and we cannot spend money on this kind of stuff.”
It is unclear exactly how much the study cost to conduct; TVC claims the study cost at least $9.4 million, although some newspapers report that it was associated with an $899,769 research grant.
Jeffrey Parsons, a professor with Hunter College said in an email to Fox News, “The data was not collected using taxpayer funds. NIH funds were not used to measure anyone’s penis size.”
The study, which last year was published in the Archives of Sexual Behavior, claimed that there had previously been little research among men who have sex with men assessing the association between penis size and socio-sexual health.
