How many gays are there?

[JesusA (imported)]

A fascinating Gallup poll….

http://www.gallup.com/poll/147824/adult ... sbian.aspx

The current best estimate, based on multiple lines of evidence, is about 3% to 5%, not the 10% that’s frequently used.

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[SplitDik (imported)]

Interesting.

I was at the Pride Parade in San Fran today. It was pretty good. The parade itself is not particularly organized, but the impact of seeing so many people who are either queer or associated (parents of, etc.) is pretty profound and it must be validating to those who sometimes feel isolated.

Here's some photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jabelar/se ... 056565354/

[Falcon (imported)]

The 3 to 5% figure is probably correct. It just seems like more because we're fabulous.

[Caith721 (imported)]

The 3 to 5% figure is probably correct. It just seems like more because we're fabulous.

Even exquisite, often times.

[devi (imported)]

Problem becomes in defining "gay". If it's a catch-all then it might probably be 10% but if it's narrowly defined using only a strictly binary gender methodology not taking into account that some males never really had balls and some women actually aren't fully women and disincluding "bi-sexuals" then it could be just 2.5%. That is bearded muscular hung men that actually prefer other bearded muscular hung men over women. -And lesbianss too. But any man with testosterone and sperm locked up with a woman long enough who can reproduce will eventually have kids. So in theory then it would make it 0.0001% if you're looking for strict homosexuality. But then if you re-include men and women that cannot reproduce into the mix you may now be looking at 5% but those aren't the ones that would normally defined as "gay". The Bible speaks of "man" and "woman" but leaves out the "adult children" category except in a few minor places and so here we are in this modern day and age confused as ever.

[SplitDik (imported)]

I agree that it depends on the definition. For me the word "gay" is fairly narrow term meaning a person who is fully adverse to having sex with opposite gender. There's all sorts of ranges of bisexual, curiousness and opportunistic levels of homosexual activity but to be labeled as outright gay means (to me) that you are squarely at the end of the spectrum. Feminine guy is not gay, guy who is married for years with kids is not gay, etc.

I take this narrow view because I take a similarly narrow view about straightness -- it's not so much about what you like but about what you dislike (people forget this part). I would literally rather die than have any sexual contact with a guy. I wouldn't accept millions of dollars to do it, if I were in jail I would fight to the death to avoid it, etc. I am extremely adverse to same sex contact (for myself I don't care if others do it). Similarly I know gay guys who would puke at the thought of having to do something with a vagina -- as my gay cousin says "I don't like women as much as I don't like spiders, because they creep me out and have eggs and stuff."

I think a narrow definition is actually better for recognizing diversity (I know that sounds contradictory) but lumping everyone into two buckets (hetero or homo) is way too simplistic. If you're going to categorize (not saying you should, but humans always do) you need to have lots of categories, like species of flowers or something, to reflect the actual diversity.

Anyway, to me this definitely makes it difficult to estimate how many gay people there are in society. Do you define it as anyone who might have gay sex in an extreme situation (like jail) -- in that case the number might be large (maybe even over 50%), or do you define it narrowly like I do in which case it might be 2%.

[guillotineme2004 (imported)]

There are three types of lies.

Lies

Damned Lies

and Statistics

I was suspicious when I first read the number and now even more so after reading the methodology.

Basically, a set of complete strangers (the Gallop poll workers) called about 1000 other complete strangers and, at some point, asked them if they were gay.

THAT, to me at least, raises a red flag. Given that there is still significant homophobia in the U.S. today (yes, it is getting much better), the fairly intrusive nature of the question in general, and the general suspicion of the public with regards to anything considered government related, I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of gays just decided to answer "no".

Furthermore, the sample is very small given the U.S. population. Yes, I'm aware of statistical probabilities and sample size methodology in general. But in this case, 1000 divided by what 250 million? That's a very small number and one that in my opinion could lead to problems with the sample itself in terms of extrapolating to the whole population.

Just my thoughts on the matter. I can't prove this poll to be wrong, but I'm very suspicious....

[John Sheraton (imported)]

quillotine04 gives the most realistic analysis. It is for 2% of the population that same-sex marriage was passed in NYState. That indicates a "trend". Then, what about the closest gays along with the male internet site attendies. All those movies for 2%? Plus, the married and happy with children guys who have "associations" with gays because it makes them whole and at peace with the world. The 2%, in my opinion, is more like 35%.

[John Sheraton (imported)]

Hence, the most fundamental question, gentlemen, is: when is a guy gay.

1) When he dreams of cocksucking, diving into a lip-lap dripping rimmmm or getting fucked. Or, 2) when he suddenly discovers the bliss of having a mouthful.

The answer is he's gay starting with the Dream. The Dream of hope, anticipation, of destination, togetherness, identity and peace in the world.

There could be 45% of males, gay.