What percentage of us population is gay 2011

Americans Vastly Overestimate Size of Gay Population, Gallup Poll Reveals

Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. A new Gallup poll suggests most Americans vastly overestimate how large the gay community is in the United States.

According to the survey, released Thursday, a majority of people believe close to one in four Americans have continuously overestimated the size of the gay population in recent years—estimating Only about 4. But in this most recent poll, conducted in May, just 9 percent of respondents estimated under 5 percent.

Another 11 percent guessed between 5 and 10 percent. Sexual orientation can be assessed by measuring identity as well as sexual behaviors and attractions. Women estimated that about three in 10 Americans Gallup also noted that Democrats and independents estimated about a quarter of Americans are gay, while Republicans guessed a bit lower In the s, the Kinsey Report helped inflate the size of the gay population in people's minds: Alfred Kinsey maintained sexuality was fluid, claiming that 13 percent of men were "predominately homosexual" for at least three years between ages 16 and He also reported that at least 37 percent of men and 20 percent of women had some same-sex experience between the beginning of adolescence and old age.

In the s, the National Gay and Lesbian Taskforce crunched Kinsey's data and touted the statistic that 10 percent of the population was homosexual. Many of Kinsey's findings have been questioned, though, as was his methodology. He sought out respondents in prison and in the gay underground.

Many people are still closeted to some degree, but Gallup reports "no measurement procedure has produced any figures suggesting that more than one out of five Americans are gay or lesbian. Efforts to provide LGBT representation in the media have also skewed people's perceptions.

This month, the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots, companies all over the country are promoting initiatives to celebrate Pride. And the growing number of young people identifying as LGBT can also color perception. That's nearly three times higher than Baby Boomers 7 percent and significantly more than Gen-Xers 12 percent.

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