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How many people are closeted?

Discussion in 'Chit Chat' started by googool, Jun 5, 2018.

  1. googool

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    Do you think that there are more closeted people than "out" people among the population (in Europe, Nothern America or Australia)?
     
  2. Totesgaybrah

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    Definitely. Especially the older generations.
    Which is why it suddenly seems like there are so many more lgbt people. In reality I think we have always existed in higher numbers than we are lead to believe.

    It obviously used to be far more difficult to come out in the recent past, so many people simply chose to stay in the closet and I don’t blame any of them. If I had been born earlier I very likely would have been one of those people that never came out. I would have been a confirmed bachelor.
     
  3. Pole star

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    Definitely. Even among the younger generation it is not all that out and open.
     
  4. quebec

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    googool.....The percentage of LGBTQ people in the US is usually said to be 3-5%. I think that because there are so many closeted people that the true percentage is closer to 10%.
    .....David :gay_pride_flag:
     
  5. googool

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    it is also my personal feeling that the gay/bi population might be as high as 10%, maybe even higher. in fact, there are some surveys that support this claim.. but i guess we will never know for sure.
    as a sidenote: i find it interesting that even in the animal world (especially bonobos) homosexuality is very common. so maybe humans are just pressured too much by *today's* society (have a look at homosexuality in the ancient rome and ancient greek society).
     
  6. OGS

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    Wow, I guess I'm in the minority on this one. I think the overall figure may be as high as five or six percent. I think at this point a little more than half of people who are LGB openly identify as such. I could see a higher number reporting same sex activity at some point in their life, but I don't particularly think that's relevant. If you were to measure heterosexual activity as indication someone is straight, more than half the gay men I know would show up as straight.
     
  7. Mihael

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    No clue :shrug:
     
  8. TwistyLayn

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    I know that if I were asked to fill out a survey about my sexuality I'd be torn as to what I should answer. Should I possibly out myself to my family, or be proud? Things like that are hard to decide. I can see why a majority of LGBT+ people would feel safer being closeted rather than out.
     
  9. Destin

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    I think less than half of LGBT people are out. I've been continually surprised by the change in other people my age's behavior around me once they realize I'm not straight. A bunch of guys I know who would never admit to even knowing what makes a guy attractive normally are a whole lot more open and relaxed about it with me now than they were before, like they don't feel the need to hide it anymore since I won't be judging them for it. A few have even gone as far as saying they're curious about what a same-sex experience would be like. If that many people just in my group of friends had those hidden thoughts all this time, I imagine quite a lot of people in the world do also.
     
  10. Jakebusman

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    I probaly am gonna be the rest of my life !
     
  11. Shadows123

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    Definitely, there are a lot more people who are living in the closet. I don't think we'll ever know for sure how many LGBTQ+ people there are, unfortunately. There are people I have known for years that have recently started coming out of the closet, which I am very proud of them for doing :slight_smile:

    I hope that one day, we won't have to "come out" to people, it'll just be accepted. If I ever have children (which I don't plan on but hypothetically speaking), I hope that they get to live in a world where they and their friends and everyone can bring home whoever they love, without fear of judgement.
     
  12. Mihael

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    I think not everyone feels the need to act on their same sex thoughts or talk abput them. I personally don't feel that need too much. So some people know, but I don't feel like going around and bothering everyone with my same sex thoughts, or any sexual thoughts for that matter, or any ponderings really.
     
    #12 Mihael, Jun 7, 2018
    Last edited: Jun 7, 2018
  13. Chip

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    Shame is epidemic in most societies throughout the world. And in the US, it is particularly bad right now due to the political climate. So as long as we don't talk about shame, people will continue to remain closeted. And as we address it more, people will open up more and come out more.

    I'm not certain that, in looking at statistics, that 10% is really the right number, since at least some of the studies that look at this attempt to address closeted people (through anonymity, etc). But it seems a safe assumption that the reported numbers are probably at least somewhat low. For example, Mike Pence, who many people think is closeted, would probably never, ever admit to it no matter how anonymous or safe the survey is. And for a lot of religious bigots, that is probably the case. But these are also the people with the deepest shame.
     
  14. PatrickUK

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    I think there are lots of people who are closeted, and I think there are even more people who haven't even stepped into the closet, such is their level of shame and denial.
     
  15. anonmember

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    That will just make your life miserable likely. I have came out to 3 close friends in a non-liberal religious town with lots of gangs, and so far, nothing bad has happened yet. It will take a lot of courage, as it did for me, but once you do it, it is usually really liberating.
     
  16. Andrew99

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    Probably more than out people.
     
  17. Leah061

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    I think there are a lot of people who don't even know that they're not straight, and are unknowingly closeted, sometimes for decades of their life before realizing their true sexual identity
     
  18. googool

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    I might be biased because of university, hence the high number (but even then the high number can be applied to the general population. There is no reason to believe that only highly educated people are gay. It just means that they are more likely to "admit" it).

    Anyway, I have to agree with @TwistyLayn.. I'm not sure whether I would disclose my true sexuallty when asked to fill out a survey. So even when there are studies that attempt to address closeted people, I don't think a lot of people will feel comfortable enough to answer honestly. Funnily, it sounded really weird when I said "I'm bi or gay" the first time to myself (and it still does now to some extent). So similarly to TwistyLayn I would be torn as to what I should answer in that situation.
    Therefore I' m convinced that the number of non-straight people must be higher than suggested by most studies. And interestingly, when looking at surveys conducted between the beginning of 2000 and now, you can notice a significant upward trend. More and more people coming out :slight_smile:

    This is something I simply cannot understand and comprehend. How is this possible? Do you think Sigmund Freud's concept of "latent homosexuality" is real?
     
  19. Leah061

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    Yes, I do think for some people, their homosexuality remains latent for years before something, or someone, finally brings their true sexuality to light. For me, I've only recently began to understand (and accept) that I'm very attracted to women, and that I don't like men nearly as much as I thought I did. However, I think that because of the way society values heterosexuality and demonizes homosexuality, it is easy for us to misinterpret our feelings of same-sex attraction, and assume that they are platonic, or to misunderstand our platonic feelings for those of the opposite gender as attraction. It wasn't until my late years of college that I finally started to understand who I'm really attracted to.
     
  20. Pole star

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    I agree with this. It could be termed as repression of same sex desires, I think.