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

Contents:

• HOW MANY PEOPLE ARE LBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, AND TRANSGENR?
• GAY AMERINS: GOVERNMENT BEGS LGBT POPULATN COUNT
• LBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, AND TRANSGENR HEALTH
• 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

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

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. 5% of adults the Uned Stat intify as lbian, gay, or bisexual and an timated 0. 7% who intify as lbian or gay).

GAY AMERINS: GOVERNMENT BEGS LGBT POPULATN COUNT

Conversely, gay men prise substantially more than half of gay and bisexual men seven of the ne surveys. 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. How many adults are lbian, gay, or bisexual?

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). In six of the surveys, lbian- and gay-intified dividuals outnumbered bisexuals.

LBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, AND TRANSGENR HEALTH

In most s, the surveys were roughly 60% lbian/gay vers 40% bisexual. The UK Integrated Hoehold Survey found the proportn to be two-thirds lbian/gay vers one-third bisexual.

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. Wh the surveys, a larger actn of adults report same-sex attractns and behavrs than self-intify as lbian, gay, or bisexual (see Figure 4).

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

How many lbian, gay, bisexual, and transgenr people are there the Uned Stat?

Separate averag are lculated for lbian and bisexual women along wh gay and bisexual men.

It should be noted that some transgenr dividuals may intify as lbian, gay, or bisexual. This is spl nearly evenly between lbian/gay and bisexual intified dividuals, 1.