LONDON (Reuters) - Britons are more sexually adventurous and less homophobic that they were a decade ago, according to a survey. More people today think there is nothing wrong with gay sex and many more are willing to admit having one-night stands.

"We have become less homophobic and less censorial of casual relationships but we still highly value fidelity within long-term relationships more so than we did 10 years ago," said Professor Anne Johnson, of University College London.

The national survey of the sexual attitudes and lifestyles of 11,000 adults, published in the journal "Sexually Transmitted Infection" on Tuesday, showed that more than 42% of men and nearly 60% of women believed there was nothing wrong with gay sex, compared to just over a quarter of men and a third of women in a similar survey 10 years ago.

Nearly 19% of women also had no problem with casual sex, more than double the number in the 1990 poll but still far fewer than the 37% of men.

More British women are also having sex earlier. More than 18% of women in the latest survey said they had had sex before they turned 16 compared to less than 13% in the poll a decade ago. Men having underage sex jumped 2.5% from the previous decade to 27.5%. The legal age of consent in Britain is 16 years.

The number of people having a homosexual experience also rose from 3.5% to 6.7% in women and from 5% to 8.5% in men.

In a separate report in the journal, French researchers highlighted the different attitudes between men and women regarding sexually transmitted infections (STIs).

Scientists at the French national research institute INSERM said women are seven times more likely than men to tell their partner if they have a sexually transmitted disease. In two surveys of nearly 7,000 French adults, 179 people had a history of STIs. Fourteen percent of the men and two percent of women said they had not told their main partner about it.

"These results are all the more worrying in that they probably underestimate the true situation," said Dr Josiane Warszawski, who led the research team.

People suffering from chlamydia, gonorrhoea or other STIs are advised to inform all their sexual partners in the two months preceding their diagnosis so they can be tested and treated.

Reference Source 89

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