How many homosexual men and women are there in the U.S.? For decades, the public has been led to believe that ten percent of the population view themselves as homosexual. The ten percent number comes from an analysis of interviews conducted from 1938 to 1948 under the supervision of Alfred Kinsey where 10 percent of men interviewed – male prison inmates – claimed to be homosexual. United Families International has regularly pointed to studies that estimate that 1.8% to 3% of the male population consider themselves to be homosexual with the rate for females at 1.5%.
Fortunately, an unexpected source has given an answer to the question – an answer that hopefully the media and other gay advocates will accept. Gary Gates, a demographer at the highly regarded gay advocacy think tank Williams Institute on Sexual Orientation Law and Public Policy at UCLA, tells us that 1.7 percent of the 18-and-over population identify as being gay or lesbian. Gates also a state that an additional 1.8 percent identifies as being bisexual. That is approximately 8 million adults in total – a far cry from 10 percent figure claimed by Kinnsey which would amount to 33 million adults today.
The Associated Press notes that news is going to be upsetting to many in the homosexual community who used the 1-in-10 number to feel better about themselves. Brad Sears, Executive Director of the William’s Institute, stated “There are a lot of great folks for whom that number may have personally been important in their coming-out process. It may be hard to let go.”
Gay advocates say that in spite of the substantially lower number, they will continue to lobby and fight for “gay rights” – citing “quality” vs. “quantity.” But an acknowledgment of the lower numbers of homosexuals ought to negatively impact not only their political clout, but should send a message to retailers who cater to and support gay causes – in retail, large numbers of prospective customers do matter.
The Williams Institute statistic indicating that over one-half of the homosexual community is bisexual (1.8 percent) also sheds new light on the claim that homosexual behavior is innate and unchangeable. The very presence of “bisexuals” tells us that individuals can and do change their “orientation” – so much for innate and unchangeable.
Go here to see the study.