Queer Cafe

A February 2022 survey from Gallup shows that, a decade after a 2012 poll showing that 3.5% of Americans identified as LGBTQ, twice as many Americans now identify as LGBTQ. Driven largely by Gen Z, the latest poll shows that 7.1% of America's population now identifies as something other than heterosexual and/or cisgender.

The change reflects generational comfort levels with regard to stepping out of the closet. More than 1 in 5, or 21 percent, of Generation Z adults identify as LGBTQ, Gallup found. That's almost double the proportion of millennials, who are 26 to 41, at 10.5 percent, and nearly five times the proportion of Generation X, who are 42 to 57, at 4.2 percent.

Less than 3 percent of baby boomers, who are 58 to 76, identify as LGBTQ, compared to just 0.8 percent of traditionalists, who are 77 or older. Not only is the trend increasing with each generational cohort — it's also accelerating, at least within the ranks of Millennials and, especially, Gen Z Americans. The percentage of Generation Z adults who are queer has almost doubled since 2017 — jumping from 10.5 percent in 2017 to 20.8 percent. The rise shows that younger Gen Zers, who have turned 18 since 2017, are more likely than older Gen Zers to identify as queer.

The poll also suggested that bisexual people constitute the largest single subset of the LGBTQ rainbow. Here, too, Gen Z led the way, with a whopping 15% of respondents from that age group saying they were bi.

But the cultural landscape is not monolithic. While 70 percent of Americans support same-sex marriage rights, and a majority also support nondiscrimination protections for LGBTQ people, a "Values and Beliefs" survey from 2021 saw a noticeable decline in acceptance for trans people serving openly in the Armed Forces as compared to a poll from only two years earlier.

Trans athletes, the target of an ongoing and record-shattering rash of hostile legislation, were also a notable subject in that 62 percent of Americans say trans athletes should only be allowed to play on sports teams that correspond with the sex they were assigned at birth, according to last year's poll.

More Than 20 Million Americans Identify as LGBTQ, According to Report

At least 20 million people in the US identify as LGBTQ, according to a report released in Dec 2021 from the Human Rights Campaign Foundation.

The group's report — “We Are Here: Understanding the Size of the LGBTQ Community” — found that 8 percent of respondents of the US Census Bureau’s Household Pulse Survey reported that they identify as “LGBTQ,” and an additional 2 percent said their sexual orientation was not gay, lesbian, bisexual, or straight. That number could include those who identify as pansexual, asexual, or as something else.

That survey also suggests that about 2 million people in the country identify as trans, which HRC noted is higher than previous estimates. Out of those identifying as LGBTQ, bisexual people represented the majority with about 4 percent of respondents.

“LGBTQ people are here — in every town, in every city, in each and every ZIP code. This data shows what we’ve suspected: Our community is larger and more widespread than we could have known up to this point, ” said Human Rights Campaign Interim President Joni Madison in a press release. “We’re proud to bring this data to light and set the stage for a future where all the millions of LGBTQ people in America enjoy full legal and lived equality.”

Madison added: “I commend the Biden administration and the US Census Bureau for finally allowing researchers to count us and look forward to seeing the LGBTQ community counted in further studies.”

California and Texas had the largest number of LGBTQ residents with 2.6 million and 1.7 million respectively. The study found that states less populated than those two tended to have a higher percentage of their population identify as LGBTQ.

Previous attempts to document the size of the LGBTQ population in the US have proven difficult. There have been issues in sampling as well as bias that affect respondents’ answers. Prior to the HRC report, the Public Religious Research Institute’s American Values Atlas found 4.4 percent of Americans identified as LGBTQ. The HRC findings double that number and still may have undercounted the community, according to researchers.

The Census Bureau’s largest surveys do not ask questions about sexual orientation or gender identity. However, data from these surveys help decide where billions of dollars of federal money will go each year. Lacking those questions means money is not going to programs and initiatives supporting LGBTQ people.

[Source: Alex Cooper, Advocate Magazine, December 2021]

Gallup Poll Shows Growing LGBTQ Population

In February 2021, Gallup released a new poll that showed a growing percentage of adults in the US are LGBTQ identifying. In response, Human Rights Campaign President Alphonso David released the following statement:

“This poll confirms what we have long known—that the LGBTQ community is powerful and a growing force in the United States, and around the world. Young adults, in particular, feel empowered to publicly claim their identities—a compelling finding and validation for the past generations of LGBTQ advocates who have long fought for full equality. As a growing percentage of the population comes out as LGBTQ, it only amplifies the need for the Equality Act to be passed through Congress swiftly and with bipartisan support in order to secure consistent and explicit anti-discrimination protections for LGBTQ people across all areas of life.”

Key Points from the poll: Results from a 2020 Gallup poll were released that showed the estimate of LGBTQ identifying American adults has risen by more than one percentage point from the previous 2017 update.

--5.6% of US adults identify as LGBTQ. The current estimate is up from 4.5% in Gallup's previous update based on 2017 data.
--More than half of LGBTQ individuals (54.6%) identify as bisexual.
--One in six adults in Generation Z identify as LGBTQ, more than any previous generation.
--Women are more likely than men to identify as LGBTQ (6.4% vs. 4.9%, respectively).
--Americans have grown increasingly supportive of equal rights for the LGBTQ community and a growing percentage of Americans identify themselves as LGBTQ—signaling that public acceptance is critical for LGBTQ individuals to feel safe identifying as their true selves.

Recent Survey of LGBTQ Tolerance

The young are regarded as the most tolerant generation. That's why results of this LGBTQ survey are "alarming." Young people are growing less tolerant of LGBTQ individuals, a jarring turn for a generation traditionally considered embracing and open, a recent survey shows. The number of Americans 18 to 34 who are comfortable interacting with LGBTQ people slipped from 53% in 2017 to 45% in 2018 – the only age group to show a decline, according to the annual Accelerating Acceptance report. And that is down from 63% in 2016. Driving the dilution of acceptance are young women whose overall comfort levels plunged from 64% in 2017 to 52% in 2018, says the survey conducted by The Harris Poll on behalf of LGBTQ advocacy group GLAAD.

“We count on the narrative that young people are more progressive and tolerant,” John Gerzema, CEO of The Harris Poll, told USA Today. “These numbers are very alarming and signal a looming social crisis in discrimination.”

Among the findings:
--36% of young people said they were uncomfortable learning a family member was LGBTQ, compared with 29% in 2017
--34% were uncomfortable learning their doctor was LGBTQ vs. 27% a year earlier
--39% were uncomfortable learning their child had a school lesson on LGBTQ history vs. 30% in 2017

The negative shift for the young is surprising, said Sarah Kate Ellis, GLAAD president and CEO. When GLAAD delved into the numbers, the group found that the younger generation was coming in contact with more LBGTQ people, particularly individuals who are non-binary and don’t identify simply as lesbian or gay. “This newness they are experiencing could be leading to this erosion. It’s a newness that takes time for people to understand. Our job is to educate about non-conformity,” she said.

The survey results come during Pride 2019 and on the eve of the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots, which sparked the LGBTQ rights movement. They also land at a dark hour politically and culturally for the LGBTQ community amid a rise in inflammatory rhetoric and dozens of policy setbacks, such as a ban on transgender people in the military and religious exemption laws that can lead to discrimination, Ellis and Gerzema said. Both are a likely force behind the young's pushback on tolerance, they said.

A new survey out during Pride 2019 shows young people have grown less accepting of LGBTQ individuals. The young are bombarded by hate speech on social platforms from viral videos to “mean tweets,” Gerzema said. “Our toxic culture is enveloping young people. It instills fear, alienation, but also permissibility” that could sway “impressionable" young minds on what is acceptable. And there is a more menacing side, Ellis said. “We are seeing a stark increase in violence in the community.” GLAAD has documented more than 40 incidents of LGBTQ hate violence since January 1.

Two recent high-profile incidents: In June 2019, a young gay couple were assaulted outside a popular strip of bars in Washington, DC, in what police are investigating as a hate crime. A few weeks earlier, a Detroit man was charged in a triple homicide in which two gay men and one transgender woman were deliberately targeted, police say. The FBI released statistics in November showing a 17% increase in overall hate crimes in 2017. Of 7,175 reported crimes, more than 1,200 were based on sexual orientation or gender identity bias.

The transgender community has been especially hard hit. In 2018, there were at least 26 deaths of transgender individuals in the U.S. because of violence, mostly black transgender women, according to the Human Rights Campaign, which has tracked 10 deaths so far this year. The situation is so grim that the American Medical Association warned of “an epidemic of violence” against transgender people, particularly those of color.

The increase in violence and discrimination mirrors the trajectory of the acceptance survey. The report, first commissioned in 2014, reflected positive momentum from historic gains for LGBTQ rights (such as the same-sex marriage ruling) in its first three years. But that shifted in 2017 with fallout from the presidential election, advocates say.

Still, there is cause for optimism this year, Ellis said. Nearly half of all non-LGBTQ adults, or 49%, are classified in the survey as “allies” with high levels of tolerance. That is the same number as 2017, and “that is a big deal,” she said. Support for equal rights is also stable, with eight out of 10 backing equality for LGBTQ people for the third consecutive year.

Ellis is confident the younger generation can rise again as beacons of unbiased values. When numbers dipped a year ago for young males, GLAAD went to where male audiences consume content: video games. The advocacy group worked with the industry to introduce diverse characters and help shape attitudes. The group has similar outreach plans for targeting young women in a popular female venue, country music concerts, she said. It’s crucial LGBTQ advocates stay vigilant, Gerzema said. “In this toxic age, tolerance (even among youths) now seems to be parsed out. Nothing today should be taken for granted.”

It Is Difficult to Determine the Size of the LGBTQ Population. Stigma and methodological barriers make it difficult to get an accurate count of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer population. The following statistics are the best estimates from surveys around the world.

Individuals...
--In Canada, 1.7% of Canadians between the ages of 18 and 59 are gay or lesbian, and an additional 1.3% are bisexual.
--In Japan, 8.9% of the population between the ages of 20 and 59 is LGBTQ.
--In the United Kingdom, 2.0% are LGBTQ.
--In the United States, 4.5% are LGBTQ.

Couples...
--In Australia, 0.9% of all couples are same-sex couples.
--In Canada, 0.9% of all couples are same-sex couples.
--In Germany, 0.5% of all couples are same-sex couples.
--In the United States, 1.5% of all couple-households are same-sex couple-households.

India’s Supreme Court struck down section 377 of India’s penal code, a colonial-era law that penalized consensual same-sex relations, in September 2018.

In the Workplace...
Most Countries and States Do Not Provide Legal Protections for LGBTQ Employees... Seventy-four countries prohibit discrimination in employment because of sexual orientation, including Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Mexico, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.

--There is no federal law protecting employees from discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity in the United States.
--There is no state-level protection for sexual orientation or gender identity in 29 of the 50 US states. This means employees can be fired for being LGBTQ.
--In June 2017, the Canadian government amended the Human Rights Act to outlaw employment discrimination based on gender identity and expression.

Today, More Fortune 500 Companies Offer Benefits to Their LGBTQ Employees... As of 2018, 93% of Fortune 500 companies have non-discrimination policies that include sexual orientation. Eighty-five percent have non-discrimination policies that include gender identity. Many companies also provide other benefits:

--49% include domestic partner benefits.
--62% include transgender-inclusive benefits.

LGBTQ Employees Often Face Hostility in the Workplace... One-fifth (20%) of LGBTQ Americans have experienced discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity when applying for jobs.

--LGBTQ people of color (32%) are more likely to experience this type of discrimination than white LGBTQ people (13%).
--22% of LGBTQ Americans have not been paid equally or promoted at the same rate as their peers.

Transgender workers are especially vulnerable to discrimination. In 2015, over a quarter (27%) of the transgender population said they were not hired, were fired, or were not promoted due to their gender identity or expression. 80% of the transgender population who were employed experienced harassment or mistreatment on the job or took steps to avoid it. Offensive jokes based on sexual orientation or gender identity are a form of harassment.

Over half (53%) of LGBTQ employees heard lesbian and gay jokes at work, while 37% heard bisexual jokes and 41% heard transgender jokes in 2018.

Fear Prevents LGBTQ Employees From Bringing Their Full Selves to Work... Almost half (46%) of LGBTQ workers in the United States are closeted in the workplace. Nearly two thirds (59%) of non-LGBTQ employees believe it is “unprofessional” to discuss sexual orientation or gender identity in the workplace.

LGBTQ people often cover or downplay aspects of their authentic selves (by hiding personal relationships or changing the way they dress or speak) in order to avoid discrimination. Employees report feeling exhausted from spending time and energy concealing their sexual orientation (17%) and gender identity (13%).

Inclusive Work Cultures Determine Whether LGBTQ Employees Leave or Stay... A quarter (25%) of LGBTQ employees report staying in a job due to a LGBTQ-inclusive work environment. 10% of LGBTQ employees have left a job because the work environment did not accept LGBTQ people.

Openly LGBT Corporate Leaders Are Rare... Fewer than 20 board directors in Fortune 500 companies were openly LGBTQ in 2018. In 2018, Beth Ford became the CEO of Land O’Lakes and the first openly gay woman to run a Fortune 500 company.

Hate crime murders in the US reached a 27-year high last year, according to new data released by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and hate crimes targeting LGBTQ people rose by 6% in 2018 over 2017.

The 24 hate crime murders that occurred in 2018 mark their highest occurrence since the FBI began tracking and reporting hate crimes in 1991. While the number of overall hate crimes dropped slightly from 7,175 in 2017 to 7,036 in 2018, they remain high. Even more troubling: the number of actual hate crimes and murders that occurred in the US is likely to be much higher, due to under-reporting.

Among the 7,036 “single-bias hate crimes” reported in 2018 (that is, hate crimes in which a single perceived characteristic motivated the attacker) 16.7% happened due to sexual orientation bias and 2.2% occurred due to gender identity bias. An additional 59.6% occurred due to racism and 18.7% were motivated by religious-bias. These 7,036 single-biased hate crimes affected 8,646 victims total.

Of the 1,445 victims targeted due to sexual-orientation: 59.7 % were targeted for being gay men, 12.2% were targeted for being lesbian women, and 1.5% were targeted for being bisexual. Another 24.9% targeted LGBTQ people generally without listing a specific identity.

Of the 189 victims targeted for gender-identity, 160 were victims of anti-transgender bias and 29 were victims of anti-gender non-conforming (GNC) bias. This is an increase over the 131 reported anti-transgender or anti-GNC hate crimes in 2017.

Do you think gay or lesbian relations between consenting adults should or should not be legal?

A recent Gallup poll (September 2017) found that 72% of Americans believe gay sex should be legal. Over the years the numbers have been moving in the right direction overall. Gallup began asking the question back in 1978, when 43% of people said gay sex should be legal. Now a full 72% of people believe gay sex should be legal.

1978      43% approval
1993      48% approval
2002      54% approval
2004      60% approval
2011      64% approval
2017      72% approval

The numbers are also moving in the right direction on marriage equality, with 64 % saying same-sex marriages “should be recognized under the law as valid, with the same rights as traditional marriages.” That is up from just 27% back in 1997.

The US Supreme Court struck down laws criminalizing consensual gay sex with Lawrence v. Texas in 2003. And the Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage with Obergefell v. Hodges in 2015.

Gallup polling show that 4 percent of Americans are LGBTQ. But with more millennials self-identifying as LGBTQ, that number could one day reach the oft-cited "1 in 10."

Both of these things are probably true: You have heard that 1 in 10 people are gay and you have no idea where that statistic came from.

Estimates of the size of the LGBTQ population have always been murky, bordering on mythological. The 1-in-10 figure first emerged out of post-World War II studies by the pioneering sexologist Alfred Kinsey, who reported that 10 percent of men were “more or less exclusively homosexual.” That number wasn’t perfect (and it’s been continuously revised) but it became a politically expedient tool in the Stonewall era.

Now, over 60 years after Kinsey’s death, new Gallup data shows that the estimated size of the US LGBTQ population as a whole is getting closer than ever to the legendary “1-in-10” number, among millennials, at least.

Using Gallup data taken from interviews with over 1.6 million adults, demographer Gary J. Gates reported that 10 million Americans (4 percent of the population) now identify as LGBTQ.

That includes a record-high 7.3 percent of people born between 1980 and 1998 who now identify as LGBTQ, up from 5.8 percent in 2012. This new data reinforces a 2015 conclusion from the Public Religion Research Institute that “7 percent of millennials identify either as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or queer” based on a survey of 2,000 adults.

“It’s not a completely unrealistic figure,” Gates said. “Certainly it appears as if (given a little more time) it might, in fact, be the case that close to 10 percent identify as LGBTQ.”

Gates is one of the top demographers of the LGBTQ population in the United States, and the author of a widely-cited 2011 Williams Institute meta-analysis on the subject, which estimated that 3.5 percent of adults identify as lesbian, gay, or bisexual, and 0.3 percent identify as transgender. He said that the increasing size of the LGBTQ population estimate can largely be attributed to “people feeling more comfortable and more willing to identify as LGBTQ.”

But some groups are more willing than others to disclose their identity to a Gallup interviewer. Millennials, as Gates noted in his report, are responsible for “virtually all of the increases observed in overall LGBTQ self-identification,” which is unsurprising because they are “the first generation in the US to grow up in an environment where social acceptance of the LGBTQ community markedly increased.”

In other words, it’s not the case that LGBTQ identity is suddenly rising in prevalence but that today’s young people are simply more forthcoming when asked about sexuality and gender on surveys. If you’re a baby boomer, think of it as a variation on that quote from the 1989 Kevin Costner classic Field of Dreams: “If you build LGBTQ inclusion, they will come out.”

And one sub-group of the LGBTQ community seems to be coming out (to Gallup, at least) in particularly large numbers.

“It’s very clear that some of the biggest increases are among women identifying as bisexual,” Gates revealed. “That’s what’s really driving a lot of these findings.”

Bisexual people, as Gates has previously reported, constitute a “slight majority” of the lesbian, gay, and bisexual community.

However, bisexual people are much less likely to be out of the closet than their lesbian or gay peers, with only 28 percent telling Pew in 2013 that “most or all of the important people in their lives” knew about their sexual orientation.

Increased bisexual self-identification among women, then, is an encouraging sign for a particularly maligned subset of the LGBTQ community.

Bisexual men, unfortunately, are subject to unique stereotypes and stigmas that may make it even more difficult to measure their number. Only 12 percent of bisexual men told Pew that they were out to the important people in their lives.

This uneven growth in LGBTQ self-identification across different sexual orientations and genders makes it challenging for Gates to confidently predict how quickly (or if) the estimated size of the LGBTQ population will rise beyond the 7 percent rate currently found among millennials.

“Ten years down the road, are men going to catch up or is that gap going to get bigger?” he wondered aloud.

But one thing’s for certain: The more LGBTQ people experience social acceptance, the more accurate our estimates of the size of the LGBTQ population will become.

In today’s social climate, research suggests that LGBTQ people may still be unwilling to self-identify as such on anonymous surveys. In one 2013 study from researchers at Ohio State University and Boston University (reported by Pew) the percentage of respondents who identified as non-heterosexual on a survey nearly doubled when they asked about sexual orientation in an indirect and even more anonymous way.

Gates points to discouraging indicators of contemporary anti-LGBTQ prejudice (like the fact that close to 30 percent of Americans think that same-sex sexual behavior should be illegal) as a sign that “we’re still quite a bit away” from being confident that all survey respondents are comfortable disclosing their sexual and gender identity.

Demographers can make estimates and the government can try to ask about LGBTQ identity on the census, but until being LGBTQ is a total non-issue, we’ll never know the size of the population for sure.

Gates stresses that it’s still no cake walk for young people to come out, a response to the myths that it’s now “trendy” to be LGBTQ and that children are being “peer pressured” into being gay.

“I can still offer you so many examples of why it is so difficult to be out as an LGBTQ person today,” he said. “So the idea that it’s somehow just easy for any generation (particularly younger generations to come out) seems to me just ridiculous on the face of it.”

But generational change will almost certainly make coming out easier for everyone, young and old alike. And that’s why, if pressed, Gates does expect the estimated size of the LGBTQ population to climb ever closer to the mythical “one-in-10” mark.

“Based on research, I think the answer is probably that, in fact, these numbers are just going to get closer and closer (and maybe exceed) 10 percent down the road,” he said.

About 10 million Americans (or 4.6 percent of the US population) identified as LGBTQ in 2016.

A new Gallup poll released the findings, which show a rise in 1.75 million people since 2012. To determine these numbers, pollsters conducted interviews with random sample of 1.6 million US adults (over age 18) for the past five years, asking, "Do you, personally, identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender?" Nearly 50,000 responded in the affirmative.

The report claimed self-identification is only one way to measure the nation's LGBTQ population. It noted how "direct assessments of same-sex sexual behavior or attraction yield very different (and often larger) population estimates."

Here are some of the other significant findings. Young people born between 1980-1998 were twice as likely as other age demographics to identify as LGBTQ. Although they account for only 32 percent of the adult population, millennials comprised 58 percent of the total number of self-identified LGBTQ Americans. Gallup attributes this to a decline in stigma.

"It's likely that millennials are the first generation in the US to grow up in an environment where social acceptance of the LGBTQ community markedly increased," the report noted. "This may be an important factor in explaining their greater willingness to identify as LGBTQ."

"They may not have experienced the levels of discrimination and stigma experienced by their older counterparts," it added. "The perceived risks associated with publicly identifying as LGBTQ might also be lower in millennials than among other generations."

In addition, women (4.4 percent) were more likely than men (3.7 percent) to identify as LGBTQ. The former group also accounted for a greater increase since 2012.

In terms of race and ethnicity, polled demographics were white (3.6 percent), black (4.6 percent), Hispanic (5.4 percent), Asian (4.9 percent), and other (6.3 percent). Asian-Americans, which tallied 3.5 percent in 2012, saw the largest increase in numbers. According to Gallup, this means that 40 percent of self-identified LGBTQ adults are people of color, an increase from 33 percent in 2012.

Gallup measured other factors. For example, LGBTQ adults in the survey were more likely be non-religious (56 percent) than straight people (32 percent). The poll also examined education attainment and annual household income.

"In a span of only five years, the demographic composition of Americans who identify as LGBTQ has markedly changed," the report stated. "It has become larger, younger, more female and less religious. These demographic traits are of interest to a wide range of constituencies."

--6 in 10 LGBTQ students report feeling unsafe at school because of their sexual orientation.

--In 2013, 92% of adults who are LGBTQ said they believe society had become more accepting of them than in the past 10 years.

--6 in 10 LGBTQ students report feeling unsafe at school because of their sexual orientation. You can encourage your classmates to accept LGBTQ students by promoting your views on social media.

--In 2013, 92% of adults who are LGBTQ said they believe society had become more accepting of them than in the past 10 years.

--Over 90% of LGBTQ youth report that they sometimes or frequently hear homophobic remarks in their school (words such as "faggot", "dyke", or "queer").

--36% of lesbian, gay and bisexual youth report hearing homophobic remarks from faculty or school staff.

--20% of secondary school counselors report that counseling a homosexual student concerning gay issues would not be personally gratifying, and do not consider themselves competent in counseling gay adolescents.

--LGBTQ youth are almost twice as likely as their non-gay peers to be threatened with or injured by a weapon at school.

--LGBTQ youth are more than four times as likely to skip whole days of school out of fear.

--Harassed youth are more than four times as likely to report having made a serious enough suicide attempt to have been treated by a doctor or nurse.

Businesses and Government Officials Should Not Discriminate Against LGBTQ People

According to The Harris Poll, the majority of Americans agree that businesses and government officials should not discriminate against LGBTQ people.

As Kentucky’s Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis may now realize, most Americans believe that government officials should not allow their religious beliefs to stand in the way of issuing marriage licenses to all couples. A new national survey reveals that Americans shun this form of discrimination not only by public officials, but also by businesses that wish to deny goods or services to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or queer (LGBTQ) people.

A full two-thirds (67%) of Americans, including 78% of LGBTQ Americans, agreed that a government official should be obligated to serve all of the public and perform all duties, regardless of their religious beliefs. The Out & Equal Workplace survey also confirmed that 60% of Americans (and 80% of LGBTQ individuals) believe that business owners should not be permitted to turn away anyone based on their religious beliefs.

These and other findings were included in the 2015 Out & Equal Workplace Survey, released today. The annual study was conducted online between September 9 and 17, 2015, by The Harris Poll in conjunction with Out & Equal Workplace Advocates and Witeck Communications, among 2,368 US adults, of whom 304 self-identified as lesbian, gay, bisexual and/or transgender (which includes an over-sample of gay and lesbian adults). Launched in 2002, this survey has become a trusted annual barometer of attitudes surrounding LGBTQ issues in the workplace and is the longest-running national survey of its kind. Full results of this study, including data tables, can be found here.

“These findings makes it clear that a majority of Americans still believe that fairness and equal treatment are a birthright for all of us, and that discrimination against LGBTQ people has no justification,” said Selisse Berry, Founder, CEO, Out & Equal Workplace Advocates. “This past year, we saw more and more business leaders and corporations boldly oppose discriminatory religious freedom legislation, while standing up for their workforce and their customers. Out & Equal takes pride in helping build this positive foundation for equality across America and around the world.”

The survey also informed respondents that there is no federal law today that protects someone who is gay or transgender from discrimination in public accommodations such as restaurants, hotels and other businesses open to all the public. When asked if they would support such a law, 6 out of 10 (62%) Americans agreed, with 44% saying they “strongly support” a federal law, and, by contrast, only 14% saying they “strongly oppose” such a law.

In a related question, the survey found that 21% of Americans believe that LGBTQ people are protected from being fired because of their sexual orientation or gender identity in all 50 states, including 12% of LGBTQ people who share this misconception. However, there is no such federal law, and today there are only 22 states with workplace protections based on sexual orientation, and 19 states that include protections for gender identity.

The survey also touched on the rise of state legislation that would expand ways to exempt individuals from laws or regulations that conflict with their religious beliefs. Forty-five percent of Americans say they oppose expanding these religious exemptions at the state level, with just 30% in support. Roughly one out of five, however, said they still were not sure.

“Americans are debating and learning much about the kind of society they desire,” said Bob Witeck, President of Witeck Communications. “The good news is that their distaste for discrimination seems to be growing, and this signal is keenly understood in the marketplace and throughout American life.”

This Harris Poll was conducted online (in partnership with Out & Equal and Witeck Communications) within the United States between September 9 and 17, 2015, among 2,368 adults (ages 18 and over), of whom 304 self-identified as gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and queer (including an over-sample of lesbian and gay adults). Figures for age, sex, race, education, region and income were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population. In addition, the results for the gay and lesbian sample were weighted separately based on profiles of the gay and lesbian population that The Harris Poll has compiled through many different online surveys. Propensity score weighting also was used to adjust for respondents’ propensity to be online.

All sample surveys and polls, whether or not they use probability sampling, are subject to multiple sources of error which are most often not possible to quantify or estimate, including sampling error, coverage error, error associated with non-response, error associated with question wording and response options, and post-survey weighting and adjustments. Therefore, The Harris Poll avoids the words “margin of error” as they are misleading. All that can be calculated are different possible sampling errors with different probabilities for pure, unweighted, random samples with 100% response rates. These are only theoretical because no published polls come close to this ideal.

Respondents for this survey were selected from among those who have agreed to participate in Harris Poll surveys. The data have been weighted to reflect the composition of the adult population. Because the sample is based on those who agreed to participate in the Harris Poll, no estimates of theoretical sampling error can be calculated.

These statements conform to the principles of disclosure of the National Council on Public Polls.

According to data from the 2015 national Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS), of surveyed LGB students:

--23% of LGB students who had dated or went out with someone during the 12 months before the survey had experienced sexual dating violence in the prior year

--18% of LGB students had been forced to have sexual intercourse at some point in their lives.3

An overwhelming share of America’s lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer adults (92%) say society has become more accepting of them in the past decade and an equal number expect it to grow even more accepting in the decade ahead. They attribute the changes to a variety of factors, from people knowing and interacting with someone who is LGBTQ, to advocacy on their behalf by high-profile public figures, to LGBTQ adults raising families.

At the same time, however, a new nationally representative survey of 1,197 LGBTQ adults offers testimony to the many ways they feel they have been stigmatized by society. About four-in-ten (39%) say that at some point in their lives they were rejected by a family member or close friend because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. 30% say they have been physically attacked or threatened. 29% say they have been made to feel unwelcome in a place of worship. And 21% say they have been treated unfairly by an employer. About six-in-ten (58%) say they’ve been the target of slurs or jokes.

Also, just 56% say they have told their mother about their sexual orientation or gender identity, and 39% have told their father. Most who did tell a parent say that it was difficult, but relatively few say that it damaged their relationship.

The survey finds that 12 is the median age at which lesbian, gay and bisexual adults first felt they might be something other than heterosexual or straight. For those who say they now know for sure that they are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or queer, that realization came at a median age of 17.

According to the Williams Institute at the UCLA Law School, 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, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) population. This research brief discusses challenges associated with collecting better information about the LGBTQ 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 LGBTQ 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 LGBTQ 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 LGBTQ 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 LGBTQ community.

The portion of American adults identifying as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or queer (LGBTQ) increased to 4.1% in 2016 from 3.5% in 2012. These figures, drawn from the largest representative sample of LGBTQ Americans collected in the US, imply that more than an estimated 10 million adults now identify as LGBTQ in the US today, approximately 1.75 million more compared with 2012.

This analysis is based on interviews with a random sample of more than 1.6 million US adults as part of Gallup Daily tracking. Across the five years of data collection, more than 49,000 respondents said "yes" when asked, "Do you, personally, identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or queer?"

Millennials, defined here as those born between 1980 and 1998, drive virtually all of the increases observed in overall LGBTQ self-identification. The portion of that generation identifying as LGBTQ increased from 5.8% in 2012 to 7.3% in 2016. LGBTQ identification remained relatively stable over the five-year period at 3.2% among Generation X and declined slightly from 2.7% to 2.4% among baby boomers and from 1.8% to 1.4% among traditionalists.

Millennials are more than twice as likely as any other generation to identify as LGBTQ. In 2012, they accounted for 43% of LGBTQ-identified adults. As a result of their disproportionate increases in identification since then, they now account for 58%. Millennials comprise 32% of the general adult population.

LGBTQ identification increases are more pronounced in women than in men. In 2012, 3.5% of women identified as LGBTQ, comparable to the 3.4% of men. By 2016, LGBTQ identification in women increased to 4.4% compared with 3.7% among men. These changes mean that the portion of women among LGBTQ-identified adults rose slightly from 52% to 55%.

Among racial and ethnic minorities, the largest increases since 2012 in LGBTQ identification occurred among Asians (3.5% to 4.9%) and Hispanics (4.3% to 5.4%). Among whites, the comparable figures are 3.2% to 3.6%. Black Americans showed only a slight increase from 4.4% to 4.6%, and among "other" racial and ethnic groups, the increase was from 6.0% to 6.3%.

The relatively larger increases in LGBTQ identification among racial and ethnic groups other than white, non-Hispanics mean that these racial and ethnic minorities now account for 40% of LGBTQ-identified adults compared with 33% in 2012. In the general population, 33% of adults identify their race or ethnicity as other than white, non-Hispanic, an increase from 28% in 2012.

The variations in increases in LGBTQ identification by race and ethnicity are likely affected by differences in the age composition of the groups. According to the Gallup data, the average age of Asian adults in the US is 35, the youngest among the race/ethnicity groupings. Average age is 39 among Hispanics, 44 among blacks, 51 among white adults, and 44 among "other" racial and ethnic groups. Given the big changes in LGBTQ identification among millennials, the youngest generation, it's not surprising that younger racial and ethnic groups report larger LGBTQ identification increases.

Same-sex marriages are on the rise. Surveys conducted by Gallup over the past year find that about one-in-ten LGBTQ Americans (10.2%) are married to a same-sex partner, up from the months before the high court decision (7.9%). As a result, a majority (61%) of same-sex cohabiting couples are now married, up from 38% before the ruling.

Just like the general public, Americans who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or queer (LGBTQ) are most likely to cite love as a very important reason for getting married. In a 2013 Pew Research Center survey, 84% of LGBTQ adults and 88% of the general public cited love as a very important reason for getting married, and at least seven-in-ten in both groups cited companionship (71% and 76%, respectively). But there were some differences, too. LGBTQ Americans, for instance, were twice as likely as those in the general public to cite legal rights and benefits as a very important reason for getting married (46% versus 23%), while those in the general public were nearly twice as likely as LGBTQ Americans to cite having children (49% versus 28%).

The Census Bureau's American Community Survey is a giant annual survey that asks millions of Americans each year several questions about demographics, economic issues, and social status. When summarizing the results from the 2013 survey, the Census Bureau released statistics focusing on same sex couples living together.

Same sex households tend to be more concentrated in the West, Southwest, and Northeast. Washington, DC had the highest rate of same sex households, with 21.3 out of every 1,000 households being headed by a same sex couple.

DC 21.3

VT 11.4

RI 11.1

MA 9.5

ME 8.8

CA 8.5

NH 8.1

DE 7.9

OR 7.8

WA 7.7

NY 7.6

CO 7.6

MD 7.3

AZ 7.2

HA 6.9

NV 6.9

NM 6.9

FL 6.7

MN 6.6

CT 6.6

NJ 6.3

UT 5.9

GA 5.9

KY 5.8

MO 5.7

TX 5.7

WI 5.4

IL 5.4

PA 5.3

VA 5.3

WY 5.3

OH 5.2

IN 5.1

NC 5.1

MI 4.9

SC 4.7

NE 4.6

TN 4.5

AR 4.4

WV 4.3

LA 4.2

IA 4.0

AK 4.0

AL 3.9

ND 3.8

KS 3.8

SD 3.6

OK 3.6

MS 3.5

ID 3.0

MT 2.8

Both opposite and same sex married couples tend to be older than unmarried couples. About a quarter of all married gay couples have the householder (the person responding to the US Census Bureau's survey) over the age of 65.

Same sex couples are more likely to have college degrees than opposite sex couples. Interestingly, while married opposite sex couples are more likely than unmarried couples to have bachelor's degrees, the opposite is the case for gay couples.

Gay couples also have higher incomes than straight couples. Married gay couples, with an average household income of about $115,000, make slightly more money than unmarried gay couples, whose average is $111,223. For straight couples, the gap between married and unmarried couples is much higher. Married straight couples make $101,487 per year on average, compared to just $69,511 for unmarried straight couples.

Cyber bullying of LGBTQ youth is three times higher than other student’s experience. According to statistics from a survey conducted by GLSEN, LGBTQ youth suffer from cyber bullying:

--33 per cent report sexual harassment online, which is four times higher than the experience of other students.

--84% of LGBTQ students reported being verbally harassed (name calling, threats) because of their sexual orientation.

--82.9% reported that faculty or staff never intervened or intervened only some of the time when present when homophobic remarks were made.

--39.1% of LGBTQ students reported being physically harassed (being shoved, pushed) because of their sexual orientation.

--44.7% of LGBTQ youth of color report being verbally harassed because of both their sexual orientation and race/ethnicity.

--LGBTQ students unable to locate supportive teachers or staff were more than twice as likely not to plan to continue their education after secondary school.

--Grade point average for LGBTQ students who cannot locate any supportive faculty or staff was lower than LGBTQ students who could locate one or more supportive school personnel (2.8 versus 3.1).

[Source: National School Climate Survey, Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network, GLSEN, 2003]