In his 1948 book, Sexual Behavr the Human Male, Aled Ksey shocked the world by announcg that 10% of the male populatn is gay. A 1993 Jan Report timated that ne percent of men and five percent of women had more than "ocsnal" homosexual relatnships. To some people, homosexualy is a matter of perceptn and fn. Furthermore, many people have trouble admtg their homosexualy to themselv, much ls to a rearcher. But when Gallup asked Amerins for their bt timate of the Amerin gay and lbian populatn, the rults ma all the figur mentned look nservative.
Contents:
- WHAT PERCENTAGE OF THE POPULATN IS GAY [UPDATED MAY 2023]
- AMERINS STILL GREATLY OVERTIMATE U.S. GAY POPULATN
- WHAT PERCENT OF THE POPULATN IS GAY? MORE THAN YOU THK
- HOW MANY PEOPLE ARE LBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, AND TRANSGENR?
- A GAY UPLE RAN A RAL RTRANT PEACE. THEN NEW NEIGHBORS ARRIVED.
- IS 10% OF THE POPULATN REALLY GAY?
- WHAT PERCENTAGE OF THE POPULATN IS GAY?
- 10 COUNTRI WH THE BIGGT GAY POPULATNS THE WORLD
WHAT PERCENTAGE OF THE POPULATN IS GAY [UPDATED MAY 2023]
Gallup timat that 7.2% of the U.S. adult populatn is lbian, gay, bisexual or transgenr. * how much of the population is gay *
The variants are more clive of all dividuals who are non-heterosexual and non-cisgenr stead of exclively applyg to people who are lbian, gay, bisexual, or transgenr. For example, one set of qutns may seek self-reported data on same-sex sexual experienc, while another set may seek data surroundg personal intifitn as lbian, gay, or bisexual.
Other stat wh LGBTQ+ protectns, such as Massachetts and Colorado, also have higher timated populatns of gay, lbian, bisexual, and otherwise non-heterosexual dividuals. As Gallup poted out s ial timate of the entire LGBT populatn 2012, "Exactly who mak up the LGBT muny and how this group should be measured is a subject of some bate, " and "there are a number of ways to measure lbian, gay, and bisexual orientatn, and transgenr stat.
Are far lower than what the public timat, and no measurement procre has produced any figur suggtg that more than one out of five Amerins are gay or lbian.
AMERINS STILL GREATLY OVERTIMATE U.S. GAY POPULATN
U.S. adults timate that nearly one four Amerins (23.6%) are gay or lbian. Gallup has prevly found that Amerins have greatly overtimated the U.S. gay populatn. * how much of the population is gay *
Among polil partisans, Democrats and pennts timate that about a quarter of Amerins are gay or lbian, while the average approximatn among Republins is a b lower (18.
It is timated that the younger generatns are more likely to be open about their sexualy, wh Generatn Z beg the most likely to be openly gay, bisexual, or asexual or pansexual. In 2011, one report dited that approximately 96.5 percent of the populatn was heterosexual, while the remar of the populatn reported, intified as homosexual or asexual.
The most important takeaway isn’t a fal tally of the gay people society, but, rather, an unrstandg of the ways which surveys and other existg attempts to measure such thgs might be slightly misleadg. “The rults show non-heterosexualy and anti-gay sentiment are substantially unrtimated existg surveys, and the privacy afford by current bt practic is not always sufficient to elimate bias, ” note the rearchers, who were jt lookg at the way surveys might unr-unt both homosexualy and attus toward homosexualy.
WHAT PERCENT OF THE POPULATN IS GAY? MORE THAN YOU THK
Host Michel Mart and Judy Bradford of the Center for Populatn Rearch LGBT Health discs the Instute Of Medice's report fdgs, as well as the LGBT muny's most prevalent health issu. Demographer Gary Gat also jos the nversatn. He is bunkg famo sex rearcher Aled Ksey's claim that 10% of mal the U.S. are gay. He talks about this percentage, the real number of Ameri's LGBT people, and challeng to gatherg accurate data. * how much of the population is gay *
Also, the Ksey Instute has - which is the legacy of Ksey - has stated very clearly that their view is that this was a kd of a polil cisn of gay activists the '70s. And they took that rather obscure passage om a Ksey book, which was never tend to be an timate of the number of gay people the Uned Stat and kd of adopted for polil purpos. Increasg numbers of populatn-based surveys the Uned Stat and across the world clu qutns that allow for an timate of the size of the lbian, gay, bisexual, and transgenr (LGBT) populatn.
Unrstandg the size of the lbian, gay, bisexual, and transgenr (LGBT) populatn is a cril first step to rmg a host of public policy and rearch topics.
In measurg sexual orientatn, lbian, gay, and bisexual dividuals may be intified strictly based on their self-inty or may be possible to nsir same-sex sexual behavr or sexual attractn. Fdgs shown Figure 1 nsir timat of the percentage of adults who self-intify as lbian, gay, or bisexual across ne surveys nducted wh the past seven years. While the surveys show a fairly wi variatn the overall percentage of adults who intify as LGB, the proportn who intify as lbian/gay vers bisexual is somewhat more nsistent (see Figure 2).
HOW MANY PEOPLE ARE LBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, AND TRANSGENR?
Disver all facts and statistics on Homosexualy (gays and lbians) the U.S. on ! * how much of the population is gay *
The Natnal Survey of Fay Growth found rults that were sentially the oppose of the UK survey wh only 38% intifyg as lbian or gay pared to 62% intifyg as bisexual. The Natnal Survey of Sexual Health and Behavr and the Atralian Longudal Study of Health and Relatnships both found a majory of rponnts (55% and 59%, rpectively) intifyg as surveys show even greater nsistency differenc between men and women associated wh lbian/gay vers bisexual inty.
The bsman and his wife, Melissa, first plaed to the Front Porch proprietors about pre-dawn vendor liveri 2019, not long after the nservative Christian uple moved their fancial firm right next door to the rtrant, which fli a gay Pri flag. (Front Porch Market and Grill)What’s more, the Washers say, the ad rat was jt one more sult that the uple, who once planted an “all liv matter” sign their ont yard, have endured sce movg next door to a rtrant owned by a gay uple. They married 2020, five years after they opened the Front Porch, which quickly beme a statn The Front Porch has been flyg a Pri flag on s pat sce 2016, not long after a gunman killed 49 people a gay bar Orlando.
“I had so many threats agast me that even the Dallas police statned squad rs outsi our home, ” Waybourn an activist, Waybourn says, his goals were clear: same-sex marriage, gays and lbians the ary, accs to lifavg medic.
A GAY UPLE RAN A RAL RTRANT PEACE. THEN NEW NEIGHBORS ARRIVED.
* how much of the population is gay *
To the activist, feels like a step backward after a lifetime of fightg for gay pack the seats at the Board of Zong Appeals hearg hosted at Grace Epispal Church. “I have que a few gay iends, clients and a fay member, and I have patronized a gay-owned rtrant for years, ” he whether the Washers are tryg to remake The Plas to their image of Ameri — Whe, nservative, Christian — Melissa said, “I n see where you’re g om. The NGTF’s most proment mpaigng slogan was “we are everywhere”, backed up by the memorable statistil claim that one 10 of the US populatn was gay – this figure was eply and passnately where did Bce Voeller, a scientist who was a founr and first director of the NGTF, get this nice round 10% om?
IS 10% OF THE POPULATN REALLY GAY?
Our list of 10 untri wh the Biggt Gay Populatn the World is likely to tch you by surprise as you’re gog to fd some of the most nservative untri this list as well. - All Parts * how much of the population is gay *
To fd out, we have to lve back to Aled Ksey’s surveys 1940s Ameri, which were groundbreakg at the time but are now seen as archaic their methods: he sought out rponnts prisons and the gay unrworld, ma iends wh them and, over a cigarette, noted down their behavurs g an obscure . Ksey did not believe that sexual inty was fixed and simply tegorised, and perhaps his most lastg ntributn was his sle, still ed today, which dividuals are rated om exclively heterosexual to exclively homosexual on a sle of 0 to ’s headle fdg was that “at least 37% of the male populatn has some homosexual experience between the begng of adolcence and old age”, meang physil ntact to the pot of asm. He claimed that 13% of mal were predomately homosexual for at least three years between the ag of 16 and 55 (srg at least 4) and that 4% of mal were exclively homosexual all their liv (srg 6).
WHAT PERCENTAGE OF THE POPULATN IS GAY?
In unmarried femal between the ag of 20 and 35, he claimed there was at least some homosexual experience 11%-20%, and 1%-3% were exclively Ksey terviews a woman for one of his sexual behavur surveys. Photograph: Bill Dellenback/APSo, 1973, when Voeller was puttg together the NGTF mpaign, he went back to Ksey’s timat for those wh predomantly homosexual experience (4 to 6 on his sle) for at least three years. But even cleaned-up data gave siar answers, and Voeller stuck to the 10%, statg 1990 that “the ncept that 10% of the populatn is gay has bee a generally accepted ‘fact’… As wh so many piec of knowledge (and myths), repeated tellg ma so.
Statistics had bee part of a polil battleground, wh heated arguments back and forth, but unfortunately whout any agreed fn: what was meant by “homosexual”? It was clear that jt askg people their sexualy uld give wildly differg answers pendg on how people terpreted terms such as “homosexual”, and so a more nuanced approach was adopted. I am cled to go wh Natsal, and my judgment would be that roughly one 80 adults unr 75 would nsir themselv gay/lbian and one 80 bisexual, but wh the balance towards bisexual women.
Photograph: Le MacGregor/RtersThere are around 9 ln LGBT (lbian, gay bisexual and transgenr) Amerins, roughly equivalent to the populatn of New Jersey, acrdg to a recent US review. But, jt as the UK, the route US Natnal Health Interview Survey (NHIS) up wh a lower figure for bisexualy than the dited sex surveys: seems plsible that there is ls willgns to acknowledge bisexual inty route surveys, whereas those who clearly intify themselv as gay or lbian are willg to be more upont sexual behavur n e all gre of tensy. History might provi some explanatn: men now aged around 60 were teenagers the liberatg 60s, when homosexualy was legalised, while men who are now around 70 grew up when same-sex male behavur men was illegal and equently prosecuted.
10 COUNTRI WH THE BIGGT GAY POPULATNS THE WORLD
That’s jt what we fd reputable surveys: the last big US survey, 10% of women and 3% of men who intified themselv as “heterosexual” also reported a same‑sex the public health world the rather clumsy phrase “men who have sex wh men” (MSM) rather than “homosexual” or “gay” there is one characteristic that un female and male same-sex experience: the rat are two to three tim higher among those wh further tn than those wh no wh chang behavur, there’s been a nsistent shift attus to same-sex partnerships. “The young adults [Generatn Z] are g of age, cludg g to terms wh their sexualy or genr inty, at a time when Amerins creasgly accept gays, lbians and transgenr people, and LGBT dividuals enjoy creasg legal protectn agast discrimatn, ” Gallup said.
PolicsCanada is now home to about one ln people who intify as members of the LGBTQ muny, wh people unr the age of 25 acuntg for a disproportnately large portn of the LGBTQ says s reportg on transgenr populatns will improveA rabow flag hangs Montreal's Gay Village. This reprents a ntuatn of a trend that has been observed back to 2014, where a higher proportn of men than women intify as gay or lbian and a higher proportn of women than men intify as bisexual. A possible reason for this pattern is that younger people uld be more likely to explore their sexualy bed wh more social acceptabily of different sexual inti and the abily to exprs the 3: Younger people are more likely to intify as lbian, gay or bisexual than olr age groupsLbian, gay or bisexual populatn by age and sex, UK, 2018 and UK populatn by age and sex, 2018.
Download this image Figure 4: In 2018, a smaller proportn of people Northern Ireland intified themselv as lbian, gay or bisexual than other UK untri. Download this chart Figure 6: People intifyg as lbian, gay or bisexual are most likely to have a maral stat of sgle (never married or civil partnered). Sexual inty do not necsarily reflect sexual attractn and/or sexual behavur, which are separate ncepts not currently measured by the Annual Populatn Survey (APS) orientatn tegorised as “other”The “other” tegory ptur people who do not nsir themselv to f to the heterosexual or straight, gay or lbian, or bisexual tegori.