How Many People are Lbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgenr? - Williams Instute

Contents:

• AMERINS STILL GREATLY OVERTIMATE U.S. GAY POPULATN
• THE METRO AREAS WH THE LARGT, AND SMALLT, GAY POPULATNS
• HOW MANY PEOPLE ARE LBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, AND TRANSGENR?
• JT HOW MANY LGBT AMERINS ARE THERE?COUNTED OUTGALLUP POLLG SHOW THAT 4 PERCENT OF AMERINS ARE LGBT. BUT WH MORE LENNIALS SELF-INTIFYG AS LGBT, THAT NUMBER ULD ONE DAY REACH THE OFT-CED ‘1 10.’SAMANTHA ALLENUPDATED NOV. 16, 2018 1:58PM EST / PUBLISHED JAN. 14, 2017 12:01AM EST DAVID SILVERMAN/GETTYBOTH OF THE THGS ARE PROBABLY TE: YOU HAVE HEARD THAT 1 10 PEOPLE ARE GAY AND YOU HAVE NO IA WHERE THAT STATISTIC ME OM.ESTIMAT OF THE SIZE OF THE LGBT POPULATN HAVE ALWAYS BEEN MURKY, BORRG ON MYTHOLOGIL. THE 1--10 FIGURE FIRST EMERGED OUT OF POST-WORLD WAR II STUDI BY THE PNEERG SEXOLOGIST ALED KSEY, WHO REPORTED THAT 10 PERCENT OF MEN WERE “MORE OR LS EXCLIVELY HOMOSEXUAL.” THAT NUMBER WASN’T PERFECT—AND ’S BEEN NTUOLY REVISED—BUT BEME A POLILLY EXPEDIENT TOOL THE STONEWALL ERA.NOW, OVER 60 YEARS AFTER KSEY’S ATH, NEW GALLUP DATA SHOWS THAT THE TIMATED SIZE OF THE U.S. LGBT POPULATN AS A WHOLE IS GETTG CLOSER THAN EVER TO THE LEGENDARY “1--10” NUMBER—AMONG LENNIALS, AT LEAST.USG GALLUP DATA TAKEN OM TERVIEWS WH OVER 1.6 LN ADULTS, MOGRAPHER GARY J. GAT REPORTED THAT 10 LN AMERINS—4 PERCENT OF THE POPULATN—NOW INTIFY AS LGBT. THAT CLUS A RERD-HIGH 7.3 PERCENT OF PEOPLE BORN BETWEEN 1980 AND 1998 WHO NOW INTIFY AS LGBT—UP OM 5.8 PERCENT 2012. (THIS NEW DATA RERC A 2015 NCLN OM THE PUBLIC RELIGN REARCH INSTUTE—FIRST HIGHLIGHTED BY THE DAILY BEAST—THAT “7 PERCENT OF LENNIALS INTIFY EHER AS LBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, OR TRANSGENR,” BASED ON A SURVEY OF 2,000 ADULTS.)BUT WILL THAT NUMBER EVER REACH 10 PERCENT THE POPULATN AT LARGE?“IT’S NOT A PLETELY UNREALISTIC FIGURE,” GAT TOLD THE DAILY BEAST. “CERTALY APPEARS AS IF—GIVEN A LTLE MORE TIME— MIGHT, FACT, BE [THE SE] THAT CLOSE TO 10 PERCENT INTIFY AS LGBT.”GAT IS ONE OF THE TOP MOGRAPHERS OF THE LGBT POPULATN THE UNED STAT, AND THE THOR OF A WILY-CED 2011 WILLIAMS INSTUTE META-ANALYSIS ON THE SUBJECT, WHICH TIMATED THAT 3.5 PERCENT OF ADULTS INTIFY AS LBIAN, GAY, OR BISEXUAL, AND 0.3 PERCENT INTIFY AS TRANSGENR. HE TOLD THE DAILY BEAST THAT THE CREASG SIZE OF THE LGBT POPULATN TIMATE N LARGELY BE ATTRIBUTED TO “PEOPLE FEELG MORE FORTABLE AND MORE WILLG TO INTIFY [AS LGBT].”BUT SOME GROUPS ARE MORE WILLG THAN OTHERS TO DISCLOSE THEIR INTY TO A GALLUP TERVIEWER. MILLENNIALS, AS GAT NOTED HIS REPORT, ARE RPONSIBLE FOR “VIRTUALLY ALL OF THE CREAS OBSERVED OVERALL LGBT SELF-INTIFITN,” WHICH IS UNSURPRISG BEE THEY ARE “THE FIRST GENERATN THE U.S. TO GROW UP AN ENVIRONMENT WHERE SOCIAL ACCEPTANCE OF THE LGBT MUNY MARKEDLY CREASED.”IN OTHER WORDS, ’S NOT THE SE THAT LGBT INTY IS SUDNLY RISG PREVALENCE BUT THAT TODAY’S YOUNG PEOPLE ARE SIMPLY MORE FORTHG WHEN ASKED ABOUT SEXUALY AND GENR ON SURVEYS. IF YOU’RE A BABY BOOMER, THK OF AS A VARIATN ON THAT QUOTE OM THE 1989 KEV COSTNER CLASSIC FIELD OF DREAMS: “IF YOU BUILD LGBT CLN, THEY WILL E OUT.”AND ONE SUB-GROUP OF THE LGBT MUNY SEEMS TO BE G OUT—TO GALLUP, AT LEAST— PARTICULARLY LARGE NUMBERS.“IT’S VERY CLEAR THAT SOME OF THE BIGGT CREAS ARE AMONG WOMEN INTIFYG AS BISEXUAL,” GAT RMED THE DAILY BEAST. “THAT’S WHAT’S REALLY DRIVG A LOT OF THE FDGS.”BISEXUAL PEOPLE, AS GAT HAS PREVLY REPORTED, NSTUTE A “SLIGHT MAJORY” OF THE LBIAN, GAY, AND BISEXUAL MUNY (PDF).HOWEVER, BISEXUAL PEOPLE ARE MUCH LS LIKELY TO BE OUT OF THE CLOSET THAN THEIR LBIAN OR GAY PEERS, WH ONLY 28 PERCENT TELLG PEW 2013 THAT “MOST OR ALL OF THE IMPORTANT PEOPLE THEIR LIV” KNEW ABOUT THEIR SEXUAL ORIENTATN.INCREASED BISEXUAL SELF-INTIFITN AMONG WOMEN, THEN, IS AN ENURAGG SIGN FOR A PARTICULARLY MALIGNED SUBSET OF THE LGBT MUNY.BISEXUAL MEN, UNFORTUNATELY, ARE SUBJECT TO UNIQUE STEREOTYP AND STIGMAS THAT MAY MAKE EVEN MORE DIFFICULT TO MEASURE THEIR NUMBER. (ONLY 12 PERCENT OF BISEXUAL MEN TOLD PEW THAT THEY WERE OUT TO THE IMPORTANT PEOPLE THEIR LIV.)THIS UNEVEN GROWTH LGBT SELF-INTIFITN ACROSS DIFFERENT SEXUAL ORIENTATNS AND GENRS MAK CHALLENGG FOR GAT TO NFINTLY PREDICT HOW QUICKLY—OR IF—THE TIMATED SIZE OF THE LGBT POPULATN WILL RISE BEYOND THE 7 PERCENT RATE CURRENTLY FOUND AMONG LENNIALS.“TEN YEARS DOWN THE ROAD, ARE MEN GOG TO TCH UP OR IS THAT GAP GOG TO GET BIGGER?” HE WONRED ALOUD.BUT ONE THG’S FOR CERTA: THE MORE LGBT PEOPLE EXPERIENCE SOCIAL ACCEPTANCE, THE MORE ACCURATE OUR TIMAT OF THE SIZE OF THE LGBT POPULATN WILL BEE.IN TODAY’S SOCIAL CLIMATE, REARCH SUGGTS THAT LGBT PEOPLE MAY STILL BE UNWILLG TO SELF-INTIFY AS SUCH ON ANONYMO SURVEYS. IN ONE 2013 STUDY OM REARCHERS AT OH STATE UNIVERSY AND BOSTON UNIVERSY—REPORTED BY PEW—THE PERCENTAGE OF RPONNTS WHO INTIFIED AS NON-HETEROSEXUAL ON A SURVEY NEARLY DOUBLED WHEN THEY ASKED ABOUT SEXUAL ORIENTATN AN DIRECT AND EVEN MORE ANONYMO WAY.GAT POTS TO DISURAGG DITORS OF NTEMPORARY ANTI-LGBT PREJUDICE—LIKE THE FACT THAT CLOSE TO 30 PERCENT OF AMERINS THK THAT SAME-SEX SEXUAL BEHAVR SHOULD BE ILLEGAL—AS A SIGN THAT “WE’RE STILL QUE A B AWAYS” OM BEG NFINT THAT ALL SURVEY RPONNTS ARE FORTABLE DISCLOSG THEIR SEXUAL AND GENR INTY.DEMOGRAPHERS N MAKE TIMAT AND THE ERNMENT N TRY TO ASK ABOUT LGBT INTY ON THE CENS, BUT UNTIL BEG LGBT IS A TOTAL NONISSUE, WE’LL NEVER KNOW THE SIZE OF THE POPULATN FOR SURE.GAT STRS THAT ’S STILL NO KE WALK FOR YOUNG PEOPLE TO E OUT—A RPONSE TO THE MYTHS THAT ’S NOW “TRENDY” TO BE LGBT AND THAT CHILDREN ARE BEG “PEER PRSURED” TO BEG GAY.“LOOK, I N STILL OFFER YOU SO MANY EXAMPL OF WHY IS SO DIFFICULT TO BE OUT AS AN LGBT PERSON TODAY,” HE TOLD THE DAILY BEAST. “SO THE IA THAT ’S SOMEHOW JT EASY FOR ANY GENERATN—PARTICULARLY YOUNGER GENERATNS TO E OUT—SEEMS TO ME JT RIDICULO ON THE FACE OF .”BUT GENERATNAL CHANGE WILL ALMOST CERTALY MAKE G OUT EASIER FOR EVERYONE, YOUNG AND OLD ALIKE. AND THAT’S WHY, IF PRSED, GAT DO EXPECT THE TIMATED SIZE OF THE LGBT POPULATN TO CLIMB EVER CLOSER TO THE MYTHIL “ONE--10” MARK.“BASED ON REARCH, I THK THE ANSWER IS PROBABLY THAT, FACT, THE NUMBERS ARE JT GONNA GET CLOSER AND CLOSER—AND MAYBE EXCEED—10 PERCENT DOWN THE ROAD,” HE SAID. SAMANTHA ALLEN
• AMERINS VASTLY OVERTIMATE SIZE OF GAY POPULATN, GALLUP POLL REVEALS

AMERINS STILL GREATLY OVERTIMATE U.S. GAY POPULATN

Every year, Gallup releas a survey of how many Amerins intify as lbian, gay, bisexual or transgenr. “Three out of 10 women unr the age of 25 nsir themselv to be gay or transgenr.

Everyone will be eher gay or trans or nonnformg or whatever the list of 50 or 60 different optns there are. ” The edian Bill Maher said on his show that by 2054, if we follow what he se as the current trajectory, “we will all be gay, ” addg that the rise the number of younger people intifyg as transgenr seemed spic. Bee of the fluence of Schorr put siarly Natnal Review: “To suggt that social suggtibily uld be playg a role the skyrocketg numbers of young girls’ exprsg their sire to bee mal, for example, is not of urse to say that gay and transgenr people would not exist whout the topics’ beg discsed the public square.

THE METRO AREAS WH THE LARGT, AND SMALLT, GAY POPULATNS

”This fear is based on an unrstandg of genr and sexualy as alarmgly agile, easily undone by a gay teacher or a trans TikTok fluencer. And so are homosexualy, bisexualy and beg ’s been an objective crease the number of visible L.

This is the first time Amerin history that gay and trans people have been able to live as themselv any real way, wh jobs and marriag and dogs and ts and visibily.

”The Twter acunt Gays Agast Groomers alerted s 343, 000 followers July 5 to a notable figure: “New data fds that there has been a 4000% spike stunts that intify as non-bary New Jersey. About 38% of stunts at the Ivy League school intified as eher homosexual, bisexual, queer, asexual, pansexual, qutng, or other — more than five tim the natnal rate for adults not intifyg as straight. Sce the Herald first nducted a survey of sexual orientatn on mp 2010, Brown stunts intifyg as lbian and gay dropped by more than half om 46 to 22%.

HOW MANY PEOPLE ARE LBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, AND TRANSGENR?

In 2010, stunts were given only heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual, and other orientatns to choose om.

The Twter acunt Gays Agast Groomers alerted s 343, 000 followers July 5 to a notable figure: "New data fds that there has been a 4000% spike stunts that intify as non-bary New Jersey.

JT HOW MANY LGBT AMERINS ARE THERE?COUNTED OUTGALLUP POLLG SHOW THAT 4 PERCENT OF AMERINS ARE LGBT. BUT WH MORE LENNIALS SELF-INTIFYG AS LGBT, THAT NUMBER ULD ONE DAY REACH THE OFT-CED ‘1 10.’SAMANTHA ALLENUPDATED NOV. 16, 2018 1:58PM EST / PUBLISHED JAN. 14, 2017 12:01AM EST DAVID SILVERMAN/GETTYBOTH OF THE THGS ARE PROBABLY TE: YOU HAVE HEARD THAT 1 10 PEOPLE ARE GAY AND YOU HAVE NO IA WHERE THAT STATISTIC ME OM.ESTIMAT OF THE SIZE OF THE LGBT POPULATN HAVE ALWAYS BEEN MURKY, BORRG ON MYTHOLOGIL. THE 1--10 FIGURE FIRST EMERGED OUT OF POST-WORLD WAR II STUDI BY THE PNEERG SEXOLOGIST ALED KSEY, WHO REPORTED THAT 10 PERCENT OF MEN WERE “MORE OR LS EXCLIVELY HOMOSEXUAL.” THAT NUMBER WASN’T PERFECT—AND ’S BEEN NTUOLY REVISED—BUT BEME A POLILLY EXPEDIENT TOOL THE STONEWALL ERA.NOW, OVER 60 YEARS AFTER KSEY’S ATH, NEW GALLUP DATA SHOWS THAT THE TIMATED SIZE OF THE U.S. LGBT POPULATN AS A WHOLE IS GETTG CLOSER THAN EVER TO THE LEGENDARY “1--10” NUMBER—AMONG LENNIALS, AT LEAST.USG GALLUP DATA TAKEN OM TERVIEWS WH OVER 1.6 LN ADULTS, MOGRAPHER GARY J. GAT REPORTED THAT 10 LN AMERINS—4 PERCENT OF THE POPULATN—NOW INTIFY AS LGBT. THAT CLUS A RERD-HIGH 7.3 PERCENT OF PEOPLE BORN BETWEEN 1980 AND 1998 WHO NOW INTIFY AS LGBT—UP OM 5.8 PERCENT 2012. (THIS NEW DATA RERC A 2015 NCLN OM THE PUBLIC RELIGN REARCH INSTUTE—FIRST HIGHLIGHTED BY THE DAILY BEAST—THAT “7 PERCENT OF LENNIALS INTIFY EHER AS LBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, OR TRANSGENR,” BASED ON A SURVEY OF 2,000 ADULTS.)BUT WILL THAT NUMBER EVER REACH 10 PERCENT THE POPULATN AT LARGE?“IT’S NOT A PLETELY UNREALISTIC FIGURE,” GAT TOLD THE DAILY BEAST. “CERTALY APPEARS AS IF—GIVEN A LTLE MORE TIME— MIGHT, FACT, BE [THE SE] THAT CLOSE TO 10 PERCENT INTIFY AS LGBT.”GAT IS ONE OF THE TOP MOGRAPHERS OF THE LGBT POPULATN THE UNED STAT, AND THE THOR OF A WILY-CED 2011 WILLIAMS INSTUTE META-ANALYSIS ON THE SUBJECT, WHICH TIMATED THAT 3.5 PERCENT OF ADULTS INTIFY AS LBIAN, GAY, OR BISEXUAL, AND 0.3 PERCENT INTIFY AS TRANSGENR. HE TOLD THE DAILY BEAST THAT THE CREASG SIZE OF THE LGBT POPULATN TIMATE N LARGELY BE ATTRIBUTED TO “PEOPLE FEELG MORE FORTABLE AND MORE WILLG TO INTIFY [AS LGBT].”BUT SOME GROUPS ARE MORE WILLG THAN OTHERS TO DISCLOSE THEIR INTY TO A GALLUP TERVIEWER. MILLENNIALS, AS GAT NOTED HIS REPORT, ARE RPONSIBLE FOR “VIRTUALLY ALL OF THE CREAS OBSERVED OVERALL LGBT SELF-INTIFITN,” WHICH IS UNSURPRISG BEE THEY ARE “THE FIRST GENERATN THE U.S. TO GROW UP AN ENVIRONMENT WHERE SOCIAL ACCEPTANCE OF THE LGBT MUNY MARKEDLY CREASED.”IN OTHER WORDS, ’S NOT THE SE THAT LGBT INTY IS SUDNLY RISG PREVALENCE BUT THAT TODAY’S YOUNG PEOPLE ARE SIMPLY MORE FORTHG WHEN ASKED ABOUT SEXUALY AND GENR ON SURVEYS. IF YOU’RE A BABY BOOMER, THK OF AS A VARIATN ON THAT QUOTE OM THE 1989 KEV COSTNER CLASSIC FIELD OF DREAMS: “IF YOU BUILD LGBT CLN, THEY WILL E OUT.”AND ONE SUB-GROUP OF THE LGBT MUNY SEEMS TO BE G OUT—TO GALLUP, AT LEAST— PARTICULARLY LARGE NUMBERS.“IT’S VERY CLEAR THAT SOME OF THE BIGGT CREAS ARE AMONG WOMEN INTIFYG AS BISEXUAL,” GAT RMED THE DAILY BEAST. “THAT’S WHAT’S REALLY DRIVG A LOT OF THE FDGS.”BISEXUAL PEOPLE, AS GAT HAS PREVLY REPORTED, NSTUTE A “SLIGHT MAJORY” OF THE LBIAN, GAY, AND BISEXUAL MUNY (PDF).HOWEVER, BISEXUAL PEOPLE ARE MUCH LS LIKELY TO BE OUT OF THE CLOSET THAN THEIR LBIAN OR GAY PEERS, WH ONLY 28 PERCENT TELLG PEW 2013 THAT “MOST OR ALL OF THE IMPORTANT PEOPLE THEIR LIV” KNEW ABOUT THEIR SEXUAL ORIENTATN.INCREASED BISEXUAL SELF-INTIFITN AMONG WOMEN, THEN, IS AN ENURAGG SIGN FOR A PARTICULARLY MALIGNED SUBSET OF THE LGBT MUNY.BISEXUAL MEN, UNFORTUNATELY, ARE SUBJECT TO UNIQUE STEREOTYP AND STIGMAS THAT MAY MAKE EVEN MORE DIFFICULT TO MEASURE THEIR NUMBER. (ONLY 12 PERCENT OF BISEXUAL MEN TOLD PEW THAT THEY WERE OUT TO THE IMPORTANT PEOPLE THEIR LIV.)THIS UNEVEN GROWTH LGBT SELF-INTIFITN ACROSS DIFFERENT SEXUAL ORIENTATNS AND GENRS MAK CHALLENGG FOR GAT TO NFINTLY PREDICT HOW QUICKLY—OR IF—THE TIMATED SIZE OF THE LGBT POPULATN WILL RISE BEYOND THE 7 PERCENT RATE CURRENTLY FOUND AMONG LENNIALS.“TEN YEARS DOWN THE ROAD, ARE MEN GOG TO TCH UP OR IS THAT GAP GOG TO GET BIGGER?” HE WONRED ALOUD.BUT ONE THG’S FOR CERTA: THE MORE LGBT PEOPLE EXPERIENCE SOCIAL ACCEPTANCE, THE MORE ACCURATE OUR TIMAT OF THE SIZE OF THE LGBT POPULATN WILL BEE.IN TODAY’S SOCIAL CLIMATE, REARCH SUGGTS THAT LGBT PEOPLE MAY STILL BE UNWILLG TO SELF-INTIFY AS SUCH ON ANONYMO SURVEYS. IN ONE 2013 STUDY OM REARCHERS AT OH STATE UNIVERSY AND BOSTON UNIVERSY—REPORTED BY PEW—THE PERCENTAGE OF RPONNTS WHO INTIFIED AS NON-HETEROSEXUAL ON A SURVEY NEARLY DOUBLED WHEN THEY ASKED ABOUT SEXUAL ORIENTATN AN DIRECT AND EVEN MORE ANONYMO WAY.GAT POTS TO DISURAGG DITORS OF NTEMPORARY ANTI-LGBT PREJUDICE—LIKE THE FACT THAT CLOSE TO 30 PERCENT OF AMERINS THK THAT SAME-SEX SEXUAL BEHAVR SHOULD BE ILLEGAL—AS A SIGN THAT “WE’RE STILL QUE A B AWAYS” OM BEG NFINT THAT ALL SURVEY RPONNTS ARE FORTABLE DISCLOSG THEIR SEXUAL AND GENR INTY.DEMOGRAPHERS N MAKE TIMAT AND THE ERNMENT N TRY TO ASK ABOUT LGBT INTY ON THE CENS, BUT UNTIL BEG LGBT IS A TOTAL NONISSUE, WE’LL NEVER KNOW THE SIZE OF THE POPULATN FOR SURE.GAT STRS THAT ’S STILL NO KE WALK FOR YOUNG PEOPLE TO E OUT—A RPONSE TO THE MYTHS THAT ’S NOW “TRENDY” TO BE LGBT AND THAT CHILDREN ARE BEG “PEER PRSURED” TO BEG GAY.“LOOK, I N STILL OFFER YOU SO MANY EXAMPL OF WHY IS SO DIFFICULT TO BE OUT AS AN LGBT PERSON TODAY,” HE TOLD THE DAILY BEAST. “SO THE IA THAT ’S SOMEHOW JT EASY FOR ANY GENERATN—PARTICULARLY YOUNGER GENERATNS TO E OUT—SEEMS TO ME JT RIDICULO ON THE FACE OF .”BUT GENERATNAL CHANGE WILL ALMOST CERTALY MAKE G OUT EASIER FOR EVERYONE, YOUNG AND OLD ALIKE. AND THAT’S WHY, IF PRSED, GAT DO EXPECT THE TIMATED SIZE OF THE LGBT POPULATN TO CLIMB EVER CLOSER TO THE MYTHIL “ONE--10” MARK.“BASED ON REARCH, I THK THE ANSWER IS PROBABLY THAT, FACT, THE NUMBERS ARE JT GONNA GET CLOSER AND CLOSER—AND MAYBE EXCEED—10 PERCENT DOWN THE ROAD,” HE SAID. SAMANTHA ALLEN

"Navratilova, a trailblazer for gay rights, tweeted a one-word rponse: "Yik... “So what, do we thk more kids jt started poppg out of the womb gay sometime around 2003, or are we gog to adm that what we’re dog wh our culture has led to more kids tryg gay stuff — that this is a social ntagn? Over one-fifth of LGBTQ rponnts, or 21 percent, are gay, 14 percent are lbian, 10 percent are transgenr and 4 percent intify as somethg else.

Jt your bt gus, what percent of Amerins today would you say are gay or lbian?

5% of Amerins are LGBT, based on rponnts' self-intifitn as beg lbian, gay, bisexual or transgenr. In 2002, Gallup asked Amerins to timate the proportn of men and women who are gay or lbian, rpectively. The rults were nearly intil, wh an average timate that 21% of men and 22% of women were gay.

AMERINS VASTLY OVERTIMATE SIZE OF GAY POPULATN, GALLUP POLL REVEALS

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. " Th, Gallup's methodology is not the only way to timate the percentage of the populatn that is gay or lbian.

Still, all available timat of the actual gay and lbian populatn the U. 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.