- Demographics of sexual orientation
-
The demographics of sexual orientation are difficult to establish for a variety of reasons. One of the major reasons for the difference in statistical findings regarding homosexuality and bisexuality has to do with the nature of the research questions. Major research studies on sexual orientation are discussed. Most of the studies listed below rely on self-report data, which poses challenges to researchers inquiring into sensitive subject matter. More importantly, the studies tend to pose two different sets of questions. One set examines self-report data of same-sex sexual experiences and attractions while the other set examines self-report data of personal identification as gay, lesbian, or bisexual. Fewer research subjects identify as gay, lesbian, or bisexual than report having sexual experiences or attraction to a person of the same sex. Several studies of sexual orientation in various countries provide comparative perspectives. Tables comparing several U.S. cities' population numbers are also included.
Contents
Incidence versus prevalence
Another significant distinction can be made between what medical statisticians call incidence and prevalence. For example, even if two studies agree on a common criterion for defining a sexual orientation, one study might regard this as applying to any person who has ever met this criterion, whereas another might only regard them as being so if they had done so during the year of the survey. It must also be understood that just because a person has had bisexual or homosexual thoughts does not mean they have an inclination to being bi- or homosexual, or that they will become bi- or homosexual.[1]
Importance of having reliable demographics
Reliable data as to the size of the gay and lesbian population would be valuable for informing public policy.[2] For example, demographics would help in calculating the costs and benefits of domestic partnership benefits, of the impact of legalizing gay adoption, and of the impact of the US military's Don't ask, don't tell policy.[2] Further, knowledge of the size of the "gay and lesbian population holds promise for helping social scientists understand a wide array of important questions—questions about the general nature of labor market choices, accumulation of human capital, specialization within households, discrimination, and decisions about geographic location."[2]
The Kinsey Reports
Main article: Kinsey ReportsTwo of the most famous studies of the demographics of human sexual orientation were Dr. Alfred Kinsey's Sexual Behavior in the Human Male (1948) and Sexual Behavior in the Human Female (1953). These studies used a seven-point spectrum to define sexual behavior, from 0 for completely heterosexual to 6 for completely homosexual. Kinsey concluded that a small percentage of the population were to one degree or another bisexual (falling on the scale from 1 to 5). He also reported that 37% of men in the U.S. had achieved orgasm through contact with another male after adolescence and 13% of women had achieved orgasm through contact with another woman.[3]
His results, however, have been disputed, especially in 1954 by a team consisting of John Tukey, Frederick Mosteller and William G. Cochran, who stated much of Kinsey's work was based on convenience samples rather than random samples, and thus would have been vulnerable to bias.[4]
Paul Gebhard, Kinsey's successor as director of the Kinsey Institute for Sex Research, dedicated years to reviewing the Kinsey data and culling its purported contaminants. In 1979, Gebhard (with Alan B. Johnson) concluded that none of Kinsey's original estimates were significantly affected by the perceived bias, finding that 36.4% of men had engaged in both heterosexual and homosexual activities, as opposed to Kinsey's 37%.
Modern survey results
Australia
- 2003
The largest and most thorough survey in Australia to date was conducted by telephone interview with 19,307 respondents between the ages of 16 and 59 in 2001/2002. The study found that 97.4% of men identified as heterosexual, 1.6% as gay and 0.9% as bisexual. For women 97.7% identified as heterosexual, 0.8% as lesbian and 1.4% as bisexual. Nevertheless, 8.6% of men and 15.1% of women reported either feelings of attraction to the same gender or some sexual experience with the same gender. Half the men and two thirds of the women who had same-sex sexual experience regarded themselves as heterosexual rather than homosexual.[5]
Canada
- 1988
A study of 5,514 college and university students under the age of 25 found 1% who were homosexual and 1% who were bisexual.[6]
- 1998
A stratified random sample of 750 males aged 18 to 27 in Calgary, Canada included questions on sexual activity and orientation. 15.3% of men "reported being homosexual to some degree" on the basis of three (often overlapping) measures of homosexuality: (1) voluntary, same-gender sexual contact from age 12 to 27: 14.0%; (2) overlapping homosexual (5.9%) and/or bisexual (6.1%) self-identification: 11.1%; and (3) exclusive (4.3%) and non-exclusive (4.9%) same-gender sexual relationships in past 6 months: 9.2%.[7]
- 2003
A survey of 135,000 Canadians found that 1.0% of the respondents identified themselves as homosexual and 0.7% identified themselves as bisexual. About 1.3% of men considered themselves homosexual, almost twice the proportion of 0.7% among women. However, 0.9% of women reported being bisexual, slightly higher than the proportion of 0.6% among men. 2.0% of those in the 18–35 age bracket considered themselves to be either homosexual or bisexual, but the number decreased to 1.9% among 35–44 year olds, and further still to 1.2% in the population aged 45–59. Quebec and British Columbia had higher percentages than the national average at 2.3% and 1.9%, respectively.[8]
Denmark
- 1992
A random survey found that 2.7% of the 1,373 men who responded to their questionnaire had homosexual experience (intercourse).[9]
France
- 1992
A study of 20,055 people found that 4.1% of the men and 12.6% of the women had at least one occurrence of intercourse with person of the same sex during their lifetime.[10]
Norway
- 1988
In a random survey of 6,300 Norwegians, 3.5% of the men and 3% of the women reported that they had a homosexual experience sometime in their life.[11]
- 2003
According to Durex Global Sex Survey for 2003, 12% of Norwegian respondents have had homosexual sex.[12]
United Kingdom
- 1992
A study of 8,337 British men found that 6.1% have had a "homosexual experience" and 3.6% had "1+ homosexual partner ever."[13]
- 2005
HM Treasury and the Department of Trade and Industry completed a survey to help the Government analyse the financial implications of the Civil Partnerships Act (such as pensions, inheritance and tax benefits). They concluded that there were 3.6 m gay people in Britain—around 6% of the total population or 1 in 16.66 people.[14]
- 2010
A representative survey of 238,206 Britons, exclusive to their categories, found 1% were gay or lesbian and 0.5% were bisexual. A further 0.5% self-identified as "other", and 3% responded as "do not know" or refused to answer.[15]
United States
Main article: LGBT demographics of the United StatesMethods
Ratios of proportions
In general, most research agrees that the number of people who have had multiple same-gender sexual experiences is fewer than the number of people who have had a single such experience, and that the number of people who identify themselves as exclusively homosexual is fewer than the number of people who have had multiple homosexual experiences.[original research?]
Change over time
In addition, major historical shifts can occur in reports of the prevalence of homosexuality. For example, the Hamburg Institute for Sexual Research conducted a survey over the sexual behavior of young people in 1970, and repeated it in 1990. Whereas in 1970 18% of the boys aged 16 and 17 reported to have had at least one same-sex sexual experience, the number had dropped to 2% by 1990.[16] "Ever since homosexuality became publicly argued to be an innate sexual orientation, boys' fear of being seen as gay has, if anything, increased", the director of the institute, Volkmar Sigusch, suggested in a 1998 article for a German medical journal.[17]
Top cities
Brazil
In 2009, in a survey conducted by University of São Paulo in 10 capitals of Brazil, of the men 7.8% were gay and 2.6% were bisexual, for a total of 10.4%, and of the women 4.9% were lesbian and 1.4% were bisexual, for a total of 6.3%.[18]
Of the men of the city of Rio de Janeiro, 14.3% were gay or bisexual. Of the women of the city of Manaus, 10.2% were lesbian and bisexual.[18]
Rank City Percentage
of city
populationGLB Population rank 1 Rio de Janeiro 14.30% 1 2 Fortaleza 9.35% 2 3 Manaus 8.35% 3 4 São Paulo 8.20% 4 5 Salvador 8.05% 5 6 Brasília 7.95% 6 7 Belo Horizonte 6.85% 7 8 Curitiba 6.55% 8 9 Porto Alegre 5.95% 9 10 Cuiabá 5.65% 10 United States
These charts show a list of the top 10 US metropolitan areas with the highest LGB population in terms of numbers of total gay, lesbian and bisexual residents, based on estimates published in 2006 by the Williams Institute of the UCLA School of Law.[19]
Top Ranked by Percent:
Rank City Percentage
of city
populationGLB Population population rank 1 San Francisco 15.4% 94,234 4 2 Seattle 12.9% 57,993 9 3 Atlanta 12.8% 39,805 12 4 Minneapolis 12.5% 34,295 16 5 Boston 12.3% 50,540 10 6 Sacramento 9.8% 32,108 20 7 Portland 8.8% 35,413 14 8 Denver 8.2% 33,698 17 9 Washington 8.1% 32,599 18 10 Orlando 7.7% 12,508 36 Top Ranked by Total Population:
Rank City Percentage
of city
populationGLB Population population rank 1 New York City 6% 272,493 1 2 Los Angeles 5.6% 154,270 2 3 Chicago 5.7% 114,449 3 4 San Francisco 15.4% 94,234 4 5 Phoenix 6.4% 63,222 5 6 Houston 4.4% 61,976 6 7 San Diego 6.8% 61,945 7 8 Dallas 7.0% 58,473 8 9 Seattle 12.9% 57,993 9 10 Boston 12.3% 50,540 10 11 Philadelphia 4.2% 43,320 11 12 Atlanta 12.8% 39,085 12 13 San Jose 5.8% 37,260 13 Rank City GLB GLB%
population1 New York City – Northern New Jersey – Long Island, NY 568,903 2.6% 2 Los Angeles – Long Beach, CA – Santa Ana, CA 442,211 2.7% 3 Chicago–Naperville–Joliet, IL 288,478 3.1% 4 San Francisco – Oakland – Fremont, CA 256,313 3.6% 5 Boston – Cambridge, MA – Quincy, MA 201,344 3.4% 6 Washington, D.C. 191,959 2.5% 7 Dallas – Fort Worth – Arlington, TX 183,718 3.5% 8 Miami – Miami Beach – Fort Lauderdale 183,346 4.7% 9 Atlanta – Marietta, GA – Sandy Springs, GA 180,168 4.3% 10 Philadelphia – Camden, NJ – Wilmington, DE 179,459 2.8% See also
References
- ^ Homosexuality Born vs. Learned. Newhope123.org. Retrieved on 2010-10-26.
- ^ a b c Dan Black, Gary Gates, Seth Sanders, Lowell Taylor (2000). "Demographics of the Gay and Lesbian Population in the United States: Evidence from Available Systematic Data Sources". Demography 37 (2): 139–154. doi:10.2307/2648117. JSTOR 2648117. PMID 10836173.
- ^ The Kinsey Institute Data from Alfred Kinsey's Studies. Published online.
- ^ Cochran, W. G., Mosteller, F. and Tukey, J. W. (1954). Statistical Problems of the Kinsey Report on Sexual Behavior in the Human Male. Amer. Statist. Assoc., Washington.
- ^ Sex in Australia: The Australian study of health and relationships, Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health and Society. (Published as the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health vol 27 no 2.)
- ^ King et al. (1988). Canada, Youth and AIDS Study. Kingston, ON: Queen's University.
- ^ Bagley C, Tremblay P (1998). "On the prevalence of homosexuality and bisexuality, in a random community survey of 750 men aged 18 to 27". J Homosex 36 (2): 1–18. doi:10.1300/J082v36n02_01. PMID 9736328.
- ^ Statistics Canada, Canadian Community Health Survey, Cycle 2.1. off-site links: Main survey page.
- ^ Melbye M, Biggar RJ (March 1992). "Interactions between persons at risk for AIDS and the general population in Denmark". Am. J. Epidemiol. 135 (6): 593–602. PMID 1580235. http://aje.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/pmidlookup?view=long&pmid=1580235.
- ^ "AIDS and sexual behaviour in France. ACSF investigators". Nature 360 (6403): 407–9. December 1992. doi:10.1038/360407a0. PMID 1448162.
- ^ Sundet, J.M., et al. Prevalence of risk-prone sexual behaviour in the general population of Norway. In: Global Impact of AIDS, edited by Alan F. Fleming et al. (New York: Alan R. Liss, 1988), 53–60.
- ^ Norway world leader in casual sex
- ^ Johnson AM, Wadsworth J, Wellings K, Bradshaw S, Field J (December 1992). "Sexual lifestyles and HIV risk". Nature 360 (6403): 410–2. doi:10.1038/360410a0. PMID 1448163.
- ^ 3.6m people in Britain are gay – official
- ^ UK gay, lesbian and bisexual population revealed
- ^ Gibt es Heterosexualität?
- ^ Jugendsexualität – Veränderungen in den letzten Jahrzehnten
- ^ a b (Portuguese) LGBT proportions by sex in Brazil
- ^ Gary J. Gates Same-sex Couples and the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual Population: New Estimates from the American Community SurveyPDF (2.07 MB). The Williams Institute on Sexual Orientation Law and Public Policy, UCLA School of Law, October 2006. Retrieved April 20, 2007.
Further reading
- Diamond, M (August 1993). "Homosexuality and bisexuality in different populations". Arch Sex Behav 22 (4): 291–310. doi:10.1007/BF01542119. PMID 8368913.
Categories:- Demographics
- Sexual orientation and science
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