Homosexuality - Demographics

Demographics

Reliable data as to the size of the gay and lesbian population are of value in informing public policy. 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 U.S. military's Don't Ask Don't Tell policy. 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."

Measuring the prevalence of homosexuality presents difficulties. Many people, despite having same-sex attractions, may be reluctant to identify themselves as gay or bisexual. The research must measure some characteristic that may or may not be defining of sexual orientation. The number of people with same-sex desires may be larger than the number of people who act on those desires, which in turn may be larger than the number of people who self-identify as gay, lesbian, or bisexual.

In 1948 and 1953, Alfred Kinsey reported that nearly 46% of the male subjects had "reacted" sexually to persons of both sexes in the course of their adult lives, and 37% had had at least one homosexual experience. Kinsey's methodology was criticized. A later study tried to eliminate the sample bias, but still reached similar conclusions.

Estimates of the occurrence of same-sex behavior range from 2 to 10 percent of the population. A 1992 study reported that 6.1% of males in Britain have had a homosexual experience, while in France the number was reported at 4.1%. In New Zealand, a 2006 study suggested that 20% of the population anonymously reported some homosexual feelings with few of them identifying as homosexual. Percentage of persons identifying as homosexual was 2–3%. According to a 2008 poll, 13% of Britons have had some form of same-sex sexual contact while only 6% of Britons identify themselves as either homosexual or bisexual. Contrastingly, a survey by the UK Office for National Statistics (ONS) in 2010 found that 1.5% of Britons identified themselves as gay or bisexual, and the ONS suggests that this is in line with other surveys showing the number between 0.3% and 3%.

In the United States, according to exit polling on 2008 Election Day for the 2008 Presidential elections, 4% of electorates self-identified as gay, lesbian, or bisexual, the same percentage as in 2004." According to the 2000 United States Census there were about 601,209 same-sex unmarried partner households.