A new report released this week from the Williams Institute on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Law and Public Policy at UCLA School of Law estimates that 3.5 percent of adults in the U.S. identify as lesbian, gay, or bisexual and .3 percent are transgender, approximately 9 million LGBT Americans in all.
The number of those who report any lifetime same-sex sexual behavior and any same-sex sexual attraction are much higher: An estimated 19 million Americans (8.2 percent) report that they have engaged in same-sex sexual behavior and 25.6 million Americans (11 percent) report at least some same-sex sexual attraction. The numbers are useful for guiding public policy and public health initiatives, and gay rights advocacy groups including Equality America have embraced the report's findings.
From the executive summary by Gary J. Gates, Williams Distinguished Scholar:
Increasing numbers of population-based surveys in the United States and across the world include questions that allow for an estimate of the size of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) population. This research brief discusses challenges associated with collecting better information about the LGBT community and reviews eleven recent US and international surveys that ask sexual orientation or gender identity questions. The brief concludes with estimates of the size of the LGBT population in the United States.
Key findings from the research brief are as follows:
An estimated 3.5% of adults in the United States identify as lesbian, gay, or bisexual and an estimated 0.3% of adults are transgender.
This implies that there are approximately 9 million LGBT Americans, a figure roughly equivalent to the population of New Jersey.
Among adults who identify as LGB, bisexuals comprise a slight majority (1.8% compared to 1.7% who identify as lesbian or gay).
Women are substantially more likely than men to identify as bisexual. Bisexuals comprise more than half of the lesbian and bisexual population among women in eight of the nine surveys considered in the brief. Conversely, gay men comprise substantially more than half of gay and bisexual men in seven of the nine surveys.
Estimates of those who report any lifetime same-sex sexual behavior and any same-sex sexual attraction are substantially higher than estimates of those who identify as LGB. An estimated 19 million Americans (8.2%) report that they have engaged in same-sex sexual behavior and nearly 25.6 million Americans (11%) acknowledge at least some same-sex sexual attraction.
Understanding the size of the LGBT population is a critical first step to informing a host of public policy and research topics. The surveys highlighted in this report demonstrate the viability of sexual orientation and gender identity questions on large national population-based surveys. Adding these questions to more national, state, and local data sources is critical to developing research that enables a better understanding of the understudied LGBT community.
The U.S. Decennial Census and the American Community Survey do not include direct questions regarding sexual orinetation or gender identity. The Williams Institute report (available in full as a .pdf here) details these and other challenges in measuring the LGBT community.
For more on the report, including analysis from Gates, check out today's story at ABCnews.go.com.
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