Nearly 1 in 10 N.Y. Teens Have Same-Sex Partners

More than 9% of teenagers in New York City have had same-sex partners, nearly double the amount found in a 2002 survey of teenagers.

The new study, published in Pediatrics, evaluated the sexual behavior of more than 17,000 New York City teenagers. The new figure, 9.3%, represents a significant spike from the findings reported in a similar 2002 survey of teenagers in Massachusetts and Vermont, when only 5% to 6% confirmed having same-sex partners, according to Reuters Health.

The results indicate comparatively greater rates of risky sexual practices -- including forced sex and sex without a condom -- among teens who were sexually involved with members of the same sex than among their counterparts who were engaged in exclusively heterosexual behaviors.

Elizabeth Saewyc of the University of British Columbia believes that these unsafe sexual practices could be the product of sex education programs that often fail to acknowledge gay, lesbian, and bisexual relationships.

"Some teens I've seen tell me that they completely check out of sex ed because they feel what they were learning didn't apply to them," Saewyc told Reuters Health.