People even typed “Is he gay?” - a fairly bizarre search - into Google more commonly than “Is she gay?” People had more questions about husbands, dads, uncles, and grandfathers than about wives, mothers, aunts, or grandmothers.
After Bridges first started looking at search volumes for “Is my son gay?” in 2016, fellow sociologist Mónica Caudillo and doctoral candidate and Emma Mishel extended that research and noted that the same gender gap apparent in searches about children’s sexuality was also noticeable in regards to searches about adults. Still, parents have clearly not stopped Googling this question behind closed doors. That’s partially why experts warn that there’s one sign of homosexuality parents should look out for. While some progressive parents might be curious about their effeminate sons, it seems likely (given that rankings are affected by clickthrough rates for stories) that genuinely anxious parents are turning to search engines for help. It is probably not a coincidence that the top search ranking for “Is My Son Gay?” is a bigoted Focus on the Family post about mourning.
Essentially, the attempt to figure out if young kids are gay is a stereotype-fueled fool’s errand at best and a stigmatizing act of insecurity at worst.
