3.4% Of Americans Identify As Lgbt

[Scott]

This is from CNN, and is a report on a Gallup poll. It's kind of interesting, especially that whites are less likely to identify as LGBT and also that people with lower education are more likely.

http://inamerica.blogs.cnn.com/2012/10/19/3-4-americans-identify-as-lgbt/?hpt=us_c2

[Jingthing]

The problem is that peak gay clubbing years coincide with peak higher education years, so naturally many opt for the clubbing ...

[LeCharivari]

"The problem is" that you can pretty well make what you want of the statistics depending on how you select them - as the anti-gay lobby are already doing, making much of how the survey "proves" how few of the population are LGBT, while it actually "proves" no such thing as that was not the question.

Most significantly all the statistics were based on telephone interviews asking how those interviewed identify publicly rather than asking their actual sexual preference -as Gallup stated "Thus, the 3.4% estimate can best be represented as adult Americans who publicly identify themselves as part of the LGBT community when asked in a survey context."

Most notably (and hardly surprisingly) 6.4% of Americans aged between 18 and 29 identified as LGBT while only 1.9% of those over 65 did so.

Unfortunately even the published Gallup statistics are very generalised and it is impossible to cross-check, for example, if younger American gays (18 - 29) are as likely to be as poorly educated, non-white, lower income, etc, as their older counterparts (30 - 49, 50 - 64, 65+) who made up the majority of the statistics - something which I would have thought would have been very significant as it would have been a very good indication of how much (or how little) LGBT have become more (or less) accepted in the US over the past few decades.

http://www.gallup.com/poll/158066/special-report-adults-identify-lgbt.aspx?utm_source=alert&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=syndication&utm_content=morelink&utm_term=All%20Gallup%20Headlines

[Jingthing]

Well I stopped buying the 1 in 10 meme ... years ago.

Gay people will never be anywhere near a majority of anything so I fail to see the big deal whether it is 2 percent or 10 percent.

Politically, it could cut both ways.

For example if reactionaries say allow gays civil rights and you mess up society. Well, if there are so few who are gay, how could there be such a ruinous impact?

My point is that people can and will make irrational arguments against gay civil rights regardless of the true percentages. Now if gays were a dramatically growing demographic like Latinos in the USA, that would be a different kind of thing.

People of good will, pro civil rights people in the USA are for gay civil rights because they are for civil rights for all citizens! This core is for fairness and equality to fellow citizens -- period. To this majority of people now, they wouldn't be any less for gay civil rights for this minority if they found out the numbers were lower than they thought before.

Edited October 21, 2012 by Jingthing

[endure]

I thought it was an ABAC poll for a minute. You know the kind - 3.45967% of the Thai people are blahblahblah.

[tombkk]

The problem is that peak gay clubbing years coincide with peak higher education years, so naturally many opt for the clubbing ...

[Jingthing]

The problem is that peak gay clubbing years coincide with peak higher education years, so naturally many opt for the clubbing ...

A boy's gotta dance!

In truth I don't take this poll very seriously. For polling purposes, the more educated gays screen their phone calls!

[Scott]

I just kind of like statistics, so I found this interesting--not significant, just interesting.

Older people don't identify themselves as gay, but younger people do. Is there a difference in the actual numbers? Maybe something in the drinking water? To much Evian, maybe?

[Jingthing]

I just kind of like statistics, so I found this interesting--not significant, just interesting.

Older people don't identify themselves as gay, but younger people do. Is there a difference in the actual numbers? Maybe something in the drinking water? To much Evian, maybe?

Well, since you asked, we lost a significant percentage of older gay Americans to the HIV epidemic especially in the 1980s.

[Scott]

Thanks JT for that, I had not forgotten, but it didn't figure into my thinking about the numbers.

I was thinking more about how people 'identify' themselves as being gay. I knew a lot of older men when I was a teenager who I am pretty sure were gay--but they would never have identified themselves as gay.

Other than HIV, I wonder what the difference is in the life span of gays vs. non-gays? (I know married people live longer than singles--I wonder if that applies to gays who are a couple).

[soi41]

Thanks JT for that, I had not forgotten, but it didn't figure into my thinking about the numbers.

I was thinking more about how people 'identify' themselves as being gay. I knew a lot of older men when I was a teenager who I am pretty sure were gay--but they would never have identified themselves as gay.

Other than HIV, I wonder what the difference is in the life span of gays vs. non-gays? (I know married people live longer than singles--I wonder if that applies to gays who are a couple).

Interesting POV, legalize gay-marriage for health reasons !