“I think it’s always been there,” Savin-Williams told Live Science. “But before, men might say, ‘Yeah, I have a little attraction to guys, but it doesn’t mean anything,’ or, ‘I’m not going to really admit it,’ or ‘Oh, we’re only best buddies; it doesn’t mean I’m romantically attracted to him.'”

The younger generation of men “can say what other previous generations of men have not been able to say,” Savin-Williams said.

The findings also suggest that the CDC and other health organizations may need to add “mostly straight” to their rosters of sexual orientations, as more and more people report having a smidgen of same-sex attraction, he added.