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:
- AMERINS STILL GREATLY OVERTIMATE U.S. GAY POPULATN
- WHAT PERCENTAGE OF THE POPULATN IS GAY [UPDATED MAY 2023]
- HOW MANY PEOPLE ARE LBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, AND TRANSGENR?
- IS 10% OF THE POPULATN REALLY GAY?
- HIV AMONG GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN THE U.S.
- AMERINS VASTLY OVERTIMATE SIZE OF GAY POPULATN, GALLUP POLL REVEALS
- WHAT PERCENT OF THE POPULATN IS GAY? MORE THAN YOU THK
- WHAT PERCENTAGE OF THE POPULATN IS GAY?
- HOW GAY ARE YOU?
AMERINS STILL GREATLY OVERTIMATE U.S. GAY POPULATN
Gallup timat that 7.2% of the U.S. adult populatn is lbian, gay, bisexual or transgenr. * what percent are gay *
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.
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, therefore, possible that Amerins' perceptns of the gay populatn may be fluenced by the greater reprentatn they see among young people. 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.
WHAT PERCENTAGE OF THE POPULATN IS GAY [UPDATED MAY 2023]
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. * what percent are gay *
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. Back 1948 sex rearcher Aled Ksey famoly suggted that 10 percent of the mal he'd studied were, quote, "more or ls exclively homosexual, " unquote.
HOW MANY PEOPLE ARE LBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, AND TRANSGENR?
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. * what percent are 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.
IS 10% OF THE POPULATN REALLY GAY?
Disver all facts and statistics on Homosexualy (gays and lbians) the U.S. on ! * what percent are gay *
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.
HIV AMONG GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN THE U.S.
A new poll shows that a majory of Amerins believe at least one four people are gay or lbian. * what percent are gay *
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). 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). Back 1977, the US Natnal Gay Task Force (NGTF) was ved to the Whe Hoe to meet Print Jimmy Carter’s reprentativ – a first for gay and lbian groups.
AMERINS VASTLY OVERTIMATE SIZE OF GAY POPULATN, GALLUP POLL REVEALS
Gallup fds 5.6% of U.S. adults intifyg as lbian, gay, bisexual or transgenr, wh the majory of them sayg they are bisexual. * what percent are gay *
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? 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 .
WHAT PERCENT OF THE POPULATN IS GAY? MORE THAN YOU THK
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).
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.
WHAT PERCENTAGE OF THE POPULATN IS GAY?
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.
HOW GAY ARE YOU?
Natsal-3, om around 2010, asked which “bt scrib how you thk of yourself”: a) heterosexual/straight; b) gay/lbian; c) bisexual, d) other?