{"id":31980,"date":"2022-09-10T15:51:33","date_gmt":"2022-09-10T20:51:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/americans-vastly-overestimate-lgbt-population\/"},"modified":"2022-09-10T15:51:33","modified_gmt":"2022-09-10T20:51:33","slug":"americans-vastly-overestimate-lgbt-population","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/americans-vastly-overestimate-lgbt-population\/","title":{"rendered":"Americans Vastly Overestimate LGBT Population"},"content":{"rendered":"
Toni Reed photo – Unsplash <\/p>\n

By Aaron Earls<\/em><\/p>\n

According to the estimates of U.S. adults, nearly 1 in 4 Americans are gay or lesbian. In reality, the number is much closer to 1 in 20.<\/p>\n

A recent Gallup survey found that on average U.S. adults believe 23.6% of their fellow Americans are gay or lesbian.<\/p>\n

Those numbers are relatively stable from 2011 (24.6%) and 2015 (23.2%).<\/p>\n

The percentage of Americans who actually identify as LGBT has risen in recent years, but not close to those levels.<\/p>\n

In Gallup\u2019s most recent survey on the subject, 4.5% of Americans personally identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender\u2014up a percentage point from 3.5% in 2012.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Younger generations are the most likely to identify as LGBT: 8.2% of millennials, 3.5% of Generation X, 2.4% of Baby Boomers, and 1.4% of Traditionalists.<\/p>\n

Even among college freshman, the numbers are still relatively small.<\/p>\n

In the most recent American Freshman study by the Higher Education Research Institute at UCLA, 91% of college freshmen identify as straight.<\/p>\n

Few call themselves gay (1%), lesbian (1%), bisexual (5%), queer (1%), or other (1.5%). In addition, less than 1% say they are transgender.<\/p>\n

Few Americans are even close in their estimation of the LGBT population. Only 8% correctly believe that less than 5% of Americans are gay or lesbian, while a plurality of Americans (35%) say the number is more than 25%.<\/p>\n

On average, women guess higher than men (29.7% to 17.4%). Young adults, those 18 to 29, are the age demographic with the highest average estimate (28.5%).<\/p>\n

According to Gallup, there are numerous methodologies for attempting to establish the actual LGBT population, but no measurement finds a number near as high as the public estimates.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
See also  8 Ways to Persevere in Ministry<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

One possible reason for the overestimation is LGBT representation on TV. According to the LGBT advocacy group GLAAD, 8.8% of series regulars on broadcast primetime scripted programming identify as LGBT\u2014an all-time high and nearly twice Gallup\u2019s estimate of the actual population.<\/p>\n

Additionally, Gallup found Americans have overestimated other minority groups in the past, such as the U.S. black and Hispanic populations.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n

Aaron Earls<\/h2>\n

@WardrobeDoor<\/p>\n

\n

Aaron is a writer for LifewayResearch.com.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n