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

Contents:

• SOME GAYS CAN GO STRAIGHT, STUDY SAYS
• AMERINS STILL GREATLY OVERTIMATE U.S. GAY POPULATN
• HOW MANY PEOPLE ARE LBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, AND TRANSGENR?
• WHAT PERCENT OF THE POPULATN IS GAY? MORE THAN YOU THK
• WHAT PERCENTAGE OF THE U.S. POPULATN IS GAY, LBIAN OR BISEXUAL?
• WHAT % GAY ARE YOU?
• WHAT PERCENTAGE OF THE POPULATN IS GAY [UPDATED MAY 2023]
• 10 ANTI-GAY MYTHS DEBUNKED

SOME GAYS CAN GO STRAIGHT, STUDY SAYS

Crics, though, say the study's subjects may be ludg themselv and that the subject group was scientifilly valid bee many of them were referred by anti-gay relig Robert Spzer, a psychiatry profsor at Columbia Universy, said he began his study as a skeptic — believg, as major mental health anizatns do, that sexual orientatn nnot be changed, and attempts to do so n even e Spzer's study, which has not yet been published or reviewed, seems to dite otherwise. Spzer says he spoke to 143 men and 57 women who say they changed their orientatn om gay to straight, and nclud that 66 percent of the men and 44 percent of women reached what he lled good heterosexual functng — a staed, lovg heterosexual relatnship wh the past year and gettg enough emotnal satisfactn to rate at least a seven on a 10-pot said those who changed their orientatn had satisfyg heterosexual sex at least monthly and never or rarely thought of someone of the same sex durg also found that 89 percent of men and 95 percent of women were bothered not at all or only slightly by unwanted homosexual feelgs. Spzer argu that highly motivated gays n fact change that preference — wh a lot of Study, Old DebateBut crics have challenged the study, even before was formally unveiled at today's ssn of the Amerin Psychiatric Associatn's annual meetg New Orleans, which was jammed wh televisn meras reportg on the prentatn.

AMERINS STILL GREATLY OVERTIMATE U.S. GAY POPULATN

Ariel Shidlo and Michael Shroer, two psychologists private practice New York Cy, found that of 215 homosexual subjects who received therapy to change their sexual orientatn, the majory failed to do so.

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

"In fact, he said, many of his subjects had been sponnt and even suicidal themselv, for the oppose reason — "precisely bee they had prevly thought there was no hope for them, and they had been told by many mental health profsnals that there was no hope for them, they had to jt learn to live wh their homosexual feelgs.

WHAT PERCENT OF THE POPULATN IS GAY? MORE THAN YOU THK

"He said some velop such tremendo strs that they bee chronilly prsed, socially whdrawn or even Spzer says his study shows that some homosexuals makg some effort, ually for a few years, make the change. "The sample is terrible, totally tated, totally unreprentative of the gay and lbian muny, " said David Ellt, a spokman for the Natnal Gay and Lbian Task Force Spzer says while the people his sample were unual — more relig than the general populatn — don't mean their experienc n be dismissed.

"Conservative, anti-gay, anti-diversy folks are gog to embrace and they're gonna e for their own agenda to ph their pot of view that, y, you don't need equaly Amerin society for gay people bee they n change, " he said. "But Spzer — who scribed himself as a "Jewish, atheist, secular humanist" wh no axe to grd — says maybe there are gays who are happy beg gay and ex-gays who are happy beg straight, and that both sis serve more rpect.

WHAT PERCENTAGE OF THE U.S. POPULATN IS GAY, LBIAN OR BISEXUAL?

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.

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. 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).

WHAT % GAY ARE YOU?

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. As ual, hypocril straight, old whe men, guilty of nductg, aidg and abettg rampant pedophilia throughout the church, e the rultg sndal not to addrs their unrlyg rponsibily or the roots of the problem but to st blame on gay men ["For Gay Catholic Prits, New Scty, " Metro, June 24].

WHAT PERCENTAGE OF THE POPULATN IS GAY [UPDATED MAY 2023]

The report, tled "Homosexualy and Child Sexual Abe, " brgs to light some signifint fdgs: * Pedophil are variably mal: A report by the Amerin Profsnal Society on the Abe of Children stat: "In both clil and non-clil sampl, the vast majory of offenrs are male.

10 ANTI-GAY MYTHS DEBUNKED

* Homosexuals are overreprented child sex offens: Individuals om the 1 percent to 3 percent of the populatn that is sexually attracted to the same sex are mtg up to one-third of the sex crim agast children.

A study the Journal of Sex Rearch found that although heterosexuals outnumber homosexuals by a rat of at least 20 to 1, homosexual pedophil m about one-third of the total number of child sex offens. Usg phallometric tt sensivi to lculate the proportn of te pedophil among var groups of sex offenrs agast children, and takg to nsiratn prevly reported mean numbers of victims per offenr group, the rat of heterosexual to homosexual pedophil was lculated to be approximately 11:1.