LGBT News CDC survey says less than 3% of population is gay or lesbien.

Got it. If this is your rationale for saying sad or disappointing, then I understand where you're coming from. It's some percentage in between the high end and the low end of the figures from available studies. With some people being 100% closeted and some people being bisexual, we will never know the real numbers.

 

And I think even with the highest possible "veiling" and anonymity provided gay people still might not respond truthfully for the following reasons and others:
1. They are in complete denial/at a point where they simply don't see themselves as gay (blind to their sexuality)
2. Realise they are gay but in denial avoiding anything that would "cement" their sexuality by saying "I am gay" (i.e. "if I don't say it out loud/write it down it isn't true, I can just ignore it").
3. Might be more open but sceptical or paranoid about the veil provided (how anonymous is this? what if something goes wrong and this is revealed?)
4. Might be more open but unsure why the question is being asked/what the organisation/company plans to do with this info and so answer contrarily in "protest"
5. Might be openly gay but do not like being asked by strangers/see it as an invasion of their privacy

So you can probably increase the "true" percentages on those charts even more.

 

^Awesome Aldrick!

The differences (as you stated correctly, not the absolute numbers) are astounding!

 

Add me to the list of people who see lots of potential flaws in such statistics. I can cite one statistic right now: where I am right now 100% of people present are gay. Impressive until you realize I'm alone.

Certainly, though, the numbers aren't in our favor, no matter what numbers you cite. But one thing I keep in mind--or try to--is that I can only be seriously involved with one person at a time. Yes, finding him would be a bigger challenge given the numbers, although living a reasonably LGBT friendly area probably does help my cause.

In any case, the situation is what it is. The only thing one can do is do the best one can with the circumstances one is faced with.

 

I'd really like to see them re-do this research using the veiled method described in the Pew Research article. It would be interesting to compare results. I'd also like to see the data broken down by gender and age.

I would predict that we'd see a total LGBT population closer to 5%, and younger people will be more likely to identify as LGB in statistically significant numbers than those who are older. I base the 5% on the aggregate data compiled by Seth Stephens-Davidowitz, which he discussed in a peice last year over on the NYT website.

I think 5% sounds more realistic, and it's compiled in part from data that is anonymous such as porn searches.

 

I think at least 5%, possibly up to 7ish% but I doubt as high as 10%

 

85% of those people are probaly on this forum right here...

 

A study on porn once analyzed how often "gay" porn was searched for in the United States. Each state had somewhere between 2.5% and 5.6%. Interestingly, Alabama led the nation. This was done on a non-gay exclusive website, so the statistics could be higher as gay individuals may go elsewhere. Also, gay would imply male-on-male, so the whole LGBT population would clearly not be accounted for in this. I would post the link to an article but it has specific websites listed, so I assume I'd better not. Porn statistics in my opinion seems like a pretty accurate and logical indicator of gay/bisexual/curious male population alone.

Thought I'd share this, I'm sure it's incomplete but suggests to me that the LGBT population on the whole is much higher than people would anticipate.

Also these sort of statistics exist by country, etc. and the more homophobic the area, the higher the frequency. I'm not a statistics guy but it's all very intriguing to me.

 

this is not possible, there are many more than just that many... but they just may not be open about it i guess, which is understandable

 

Restricting the survey to those over 18 is going to skew the results away from same sex attraction as the older you are, the more stigma you have attached to being LGBT and the less likely you are to be truthful in your self-reporting.

A study here in NZ in 2012 of 8,500 secondary school students (age 13-19) where they self-reported had
-92% say they were exclusively attracted to the opposite gender
-4% say they were attracted to the same or both genders
-4% say they weren't sure

http://ebooks.fmhs.auckland.ac.nz/youth12-overview-report/#/25/zoomed

Statistics and personal experience makes me pretty confident that about 5% (or 1 in 20) is pretty accurate.
3% (1 in 33) is definitely too low.

 

I would expect the percentages to be much higher where homosexuality and the latter are tolerated more, like France, the U.K., Spain, Germany, etc. But I've always been told that it was 1/10. Why did we go from 1 in 10 to 1 in 33? That's a huge difference.

 

Gay Britain: what do the statistics say?

Interesting article.

Says that 2.5% of people identify as LGB in London, but only 1% in Northern Ireland. Also that 2.7% of 16-24 year olds identify as LGB compared to just 0.5% of 65+s. I think this makes it pretty plain how flawed surveys on sexuality are. It's not surprising that older people or people in perhaps the most homophobic part of the UK, are less likely to identify as LGB.

I'd like to see what the percentage of 16-24 Londoners identifying as LGB is as that would be closest to the actual percentage of LGB people, though would still probably be a considerably conservative estimate.

 

It seems to me given the methodology that it is almost assured that this study underestimates the numbers. But as for the argument that this number would somehow make us insignificant or make it impossible for us to find each other--even if we assume that number is accurate (which I wouldn't) it puts us on par with the percentage of Americans who are... Jewish. We are everywhere and there are plenty of us (where I live you can't swing a dead cat without hitting a gay guy)--it may not however be the case that there are plenty of us everywhere.

 

Yeah, I wasn't asked either. Maybe they took it out of "1000 people" and found that less than 30 of the chosen were gay?". I find it bogus too since it's not something that one asks directly.

 

I agree with you, but that would include bisexuals.

---------- Post added 15th Jul 2014 at 06:24 PM ----------

I think it's too low, especially since that figure includes bisexuals. In fact, it seems downright ridiculous. It's impossible to know which sexuality that is not heteronormative is the most common. It's especially difficult to gauge the number of bisexuals because of the different nature of people's bisexuality as conceptually described by Kinsey (let's not open that can of worms).

This other study described in the link says about 4% and was conducted in 2011. Then, look at the LGB populations and percentages in some U.S. cities.

LGBT demographics of the United States - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Those are some big numbers.

 

Yes, it's my feeling as well that the bisexual numbers are totally ridiculous and even more skewed than the numbers on gays and lesbians. Mostly, because I think people who are bisexual still face too much discrimination. They face some degree of hostility and mistrust in the gay community, and if someone is truly bisexual and is growing up in a place where gays are discriminated against - why even bother coming out? It's easier to pretend to be straight.

Unlike gays and lesbians people who are bisexual have the ability to maintain a healthy and happy relationship with someone of the opposite gender. What really is the driving force to encourage people who are bisexual to openly identify as such, when doing such will cost them unnecessary grief if they are in a relationship with someone of the opposite gender? Hell, I know bisexual men who identify as gay because they are in a relationship with another man. They simply identify as gay because it's easier and causes less confusion. So, it really cuts both ways.

Then let's add to the fact how hard some gay men struggle with figuring out their sexuality. Look at all the people who didn't realize that they were gay until later in life. Just think of how many potential bisexual people there are out there and don't even realize it - simply because they're socially conditioned to live and think like straight people from birth, literally.

Although I have no evidence to back it up, it's my belief that as same sex relationships are more accepted and socially and culturally normalized, the number of people who identify as bisexual will rise as well. The number will likely rise to the point where there will be more bisexual people than there are gays and lesbians combined.

 

Another 7% are in the closet.