From the Blade; a homosexual perspective HERE!

Are these statistics optimistic or real:

A report released last month by the Williams Institute, an LGBT think tank affiliated with the University of California Law School in Los Angeles, shows that LGBT adults make up 14.5 percent of the adult population in the District of Columbia, a figure nearly twice as large as the 7.8 percent of LGBT adults in Oregon, which the report says has the second highest percentage of LGBT adults after D.C.

The report shows that Delaware came in third place, with 7.5 percent of its adult population found to be LGBT. According to the report, Virginia has an adult LGBT population of 5.9 percent and Maryland’s LGBT adult population is 5.4 percent.

It says the estimated total percentage of LGBT adults in the United States is 5.5 percent, which comes to a total number of 13,942,200.

The 16-page report, entitled Adult LGBT Population in the United States, says it bases its LGBT population figures on data gathered by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s annual Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System survey for the combined years of 2020 and 2021, the most recent data available from that survey.

It points out that the CDC conducts its annual surveillance survey that gathers a wide range of health-related and demographic data, including sexual orientation and gender identity, by telephone “with representative samples of non-institutionalized adults” who live in each state, D.C., and three U.S. territories. Respondents to the survey remain anonymous, the report says.

“LGBT people reside in all regions of the U.S.,” the report says. “Consistent with the overall population in the United States, more LGBT adults live in the South than in any other region,” it says, comprising 35.9 percent of the population of LGBT adults in the U.S. It says in the Western states, LGBT adults make up 24.5 percent of the adult U.S. LGBT population, 21.1 percent in the Midwest, and 18.5 percent in the Northeast region.

As expected, the report says the actual number of LGBT adults is highest in the larger states compared to D.C., which the report says has an adult LGBT population of 81,400. California has the highest number of LGBT adult residents at 1,549,600, according to the report. The next highest is Texas, with 1,071,300, followed by Florida, with 898,000, New York, with 853,600, and Pennsylvania, with 586,500.

The report shows Virginia has an adult LGBT population of 390,700, with Maryland’s LGBT adult population at 252,700, and Delaware’s at 56,600.

“In terms of the number of LGBT adults, the top states with the largest number of LGBT adults are also the states with the largest overall populations, except for Washington, which is 13th in terms of overall adult population and 10th in terms of the adult LGBT population,” the report states.

Among the report’s findings is young people at the age of 18 to 24 are much more likely to self-identify as LGBT compared to those at an older age. It shows that 15.2 percent of people ages 18-25, or 4,659,600 people, identify as LGBT in the surveys. According to the report, the 9.1 percent of people ages 25-34 identify as LGBT, 4.1 percent of those 35-49 identify as LGBT adults, and 2.7 percent of those 50 to 64 identify as LGBT adults.

Only 1.8 percent identify as LGBT among people 65 years of age or older, the report says.

USA Today reports that the Williams Institute report, which was released on Dec. 6, reconfirms earlier LGBT population surveys that also found the highest percentage of LGBT adults live in the South, with D.C. found to have the highest percentage of LGBT adults in previous surveys.

D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser has often mentioned D.C.’s status as the U.S. jurisdiction with the highest percentage LGBT residents in her appearances before LGBT audiences.

“As the mayor says, ‘We are the gayest city in the world’ and we are proud to be home to the largest percentage of LGBTQIA+ folks in the nation,” said Japer Bowles, director of the Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs. “We don’t take this lightly,” said Bowles, adding that this distinction “comes from the resources and community that we continually support and empower.”

Added Bowles, “D.C. will continue to be a leader for LGBTQIA+ rights and resources and we welcome all, no matter your identity or who you love to live, work, and play in D.C.”

The full report can be accessed via ucla.edu.

Pensiaemento Peligroso