Americans Greatly Overestimate U.S. Gay Population

Americans’ estimate of the proportion of gay people in the U.S. is more than five times Gallup’s more encompassing 2017 estimate that 4.5% of Americans are LGBT, based on respondents’ self-identification as being lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender. As Gallup pointed out in its initial estimate of the entire LGBT population in 2012, “Exactly who makes up the LGBT community and how this group should be measured is a subject of some debate,” and “there are a number of ways to measure lesbian, gay, and bisexual orientation, and transgender status. Even the groups offering the lowest average estimates of gays and lesbians in the U.S. exceed Gallup’s figure on all LGBT identification by about four times.

Source: news.gallup.com