# Any figures on the percentage of gay folks in any given population? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 24, 2001, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-figures-on-the-percentage-of-gay-folks-in-any-given-population/69923 "2001-06-24T00:55:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![bare](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bare/32/471_2.png) [@bare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bare)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2001, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-figures-on-the-percentage-of-gay-folks-in-any-given-population/69923/1 "2001-06-24T00:55:39Z")
I noticed a statement in another thread in which the poster mentioned that ten percent of the male population was openly gay. The figure seemed rather high in my admittedly limited experience but I could not find any documentation. Can anyone direct me to the proper source? ---
**Author:** ![Kunimitsu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/919ad9/32.png) [@Kunimitsu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kunimitsu)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2001, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-figures-on-the-percentage-of-gay-folks-in-any-given-population/69923/2 "2001-06-24T01:02:27Z")
It really depends on what age. I’m a homosexual. And the percentages I recently read were that ages ranging from 12 - 19 the percentage was a surprising 35. I can’t recal what source I recieved the information from, so if it’s accurate or incorrect is beyond me. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2001, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-figures-on-the-percentage-of-gay-folks-in-any-given-population/69923/3 "2001-06-24T01:55:48Z")
**Kunimitsu** I think you may be confusing statistics(started by Kinsey) which indicate that greater than 10% of the male population has had a homosexual experience(yeah! I remember that 10 year old I humped thru his clothes when I was 13 or 14) with reliable studies which indicate that _less than 10 per cent_ of the adult male population is homosexual. I agree with **bare**. I think that someone will post statistics which will indicate that 2-5% is more believable. ---
**Author:** ![Ringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/779978/32.png) [@Ringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ringo)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2001, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-figures-on-the-percentage-of-gay-folks-in-any-given-population/69923/4 "2001-06-24T02:01:07Z")
The figures I’ve run across over the years range fromm 1% to 10%, and I believe the numbers at both extremes of that range are at least partly politically driven. So, somewhere in between, but in fact nobody knows or will ever likely know. ---
**Author:** ![Sysop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Sysop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sysop)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2001, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-figures-on-the-percentage-of-gay-folks-in-any-given-population/69923/5 "2001-06-24T02:35:32Z")
Just wanted to puy my 2 cents in… “Honey, with all the ‘straight’ guys I’ve slept with, it’s got to be 99%!” 'sides, the only difference between a straight guy and a gay guy is a six-pack. ---
**Author:** ![urban1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/d07c76/32.png) [@urban1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/urban1)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2001, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-figures-on-the-percentage-of-gay-folks-in-any-given-population/69923/6 "2001-06-24T03:05:59Z")
I’ve always heard the 10%, but I thought it was for both gays and lesbians. ---
**Author:** ![nineiron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e56c9b/32.png) [@nineiron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nineiron)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2001, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-figures-on-the-percentage-of-gay-folks-in-any-given-population/69923/7 "2001-06-24T03:16:08Z")
Sysop, give us a break. 2-3 percent, if that. 10% was used as a politically-driven figure for years, but it’s absolutely absurd. ---
**Author:** ![bare](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bare/32/471_2.png) [@bare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bare)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2001, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-figures-on-the-percentage-of-gay-folks-in-any-given-population/69923/8 "2001-06-24T03:20:21Z")
I guess what I am really looking for is the percentage of gay males gay females bi-sexual in any given population. I assume the ratio of gay men and gay women would tend to be pretty close to the same? ---
**Author:** ![andygirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a9adbd/32.png) [@andygirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andygirl)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2001, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-figures-on-the-percentage-of-gay-folks-in-any-given-population/69923/9 "2001-06-24T05:26:51Z")
Unless homosexuality becomes something that everyone becomes open about, there’s no way to tell how many people are gay. And furthermore, how do you count it? If I am attracted to girls but I date boys my whole life, does that make me gay? If I date or even just kiss one girl and date boys the rest of my life, does that make me bisexual? Where does behavior come in? Identity? How are we going to find out who’s gay, anyway? How many people would honestly answer that question? Especially to someone they don’t know? It’s an impossible number. I’ve heard anywhere from 3% to “deep down, everybody is bisexual! Honest!” I’m content to say that there’s a lot of queer people going about their lives. Incidentally, queerness doesn’t occur more in “any given population.” (at least, there’s no evidence to suggest so.) It’s something that transcends race, economic background, religion, and other such things. ---
**Author:** ![bare](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bare/32/471_2.png) [@bare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bare)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2001, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-figures-on-the-percentage-of-gay-folks-in-any-given-population/69923/10 "2001-06-24T05:43:21Z")
andygirl, I can’t really answer your questions and I’m not looking for debate. I would think that most folks would pretty well know their preferences, I know I do. I am thinking there must have been unbiased studies done on this subject somewhere and would appreciate a cite. many studies have been done in the past protecting anonymity. ---
**Author:** ![andygirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a9adbd/32.png) [@andygirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andygirl)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2001, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-figures-on-the-percentage-of-gay-folks-in-any-given-population/69923/11 "2001-06-24T05:48:18Z")
I was using the questions to prove why an accurate number cannot be reached. I know my preference, but I won’t necessarily tell people. And any studies done on the number of homosexuals in a population have flaws regarding the questions that I previously mentioned. ---
**Author:** ![JillGat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9fc29f/32.png) [@JillGat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JillGat)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2001, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-figures-on-the-percentage-of-gay-folks-in-any-given-population/69923/12 "2001-06-24T06:03:46Z")
Kinsey came up with the 10% figure some years ago, but it’s been disputed ever since then. As Andygirl said, it is difficult to define “homosexuality” when most people fall on a continuum of overt/covert behavior/identity from strictly gay to strictly straight. ---
**Author:** ![dqa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dqa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dqa)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2001, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-figures-on-the-percentage-of-gay-folks-in-any-given-population/69923/13 "2001-06-24T06:23:01Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by bare \* > \*\*I assume the ratio of gay men and gay women would tend to be pretty close to the same? \*\* Well, we know what happens when you assume. This issue is fraught with not only the measurement difficulties that **andygirl** alluded to, but also political passions from right and left. You’ll find self-righteous folks on this board duking it out over this in a manner that unfortunately resembles so many other lesser boards elsewhere on the web(not too much in this thread yet). Dopers generally respect the facts, but the reason WAGs and overbroad assertions reign is that the facts are unclear in this case. I suggest slogging through a few different websites on each side of the issue. For instance, the conservative [Family Research Institute](http://www.familyresearchinst.org/FRI_AIM_Talk.html) lists a variety of studies and their respective percentages. Couldn’t find a site from the left with a comparable list of studies such as you seem to be looking for, but I didn’t try very hard. For what it’s worth, the gay-friendly professor in my psychology of sex, marriage & family class gave us estimates of about 5% homosexual orientation in males, 3% in females. ---
**Author:** ![Ottoerotic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/6de8d8/32.png) [@Ottoerotic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ottoerotic)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2001, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-figures-on-the-percentage-of-gay-folks-in-any-given-population/69923/14 "2001-06-24T15:39:01Z")
I was told that it was 3-5% but that Kinsey added a couple of percentage points because he believed that there were quite a few people who weren’t openly gay. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2001, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-figures-on-the-percentage-of-gay-folks-in-any-given-population/69923/15 "2001-06-24T19:58:01Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by otto3883 \* > \*\*I was told that it was 3-5% but that Kinsey added a couple of percentage points because he believed that there were quite a few people who weren’t openly gay. \*\* IIRC, one of the main reasons Kinsey’s figure is disputed is because his (non-random) sample contained a disproportionately high proportion of males who had spent time in prison or other environments where same-sex experiences might be expected to be more common, even for males who were basically heterosexual. Assuming that sexual preference is largely innate (whether genetic, developmental, or both), it is possible that the percentages for various preferences _could_ differ between populations. However, the possiblity of detecting any such differences is likely to be overwhelmed by cultural differences in the tolerance for the expression for homosexuality. (For instance, FWIW, Kinsey found distinct differences in which Irish and Italian homosexuals expressed their sexuality, with Italians being more overt.) ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2001, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-figures-on-the-percentage-of-gay-folks-in-any-given-population/69923/16 "2001-06-24T20:28:02Z")
Kinsey’s figures stated about a third of men had ONE or more homosexual experience. One act does not a homosexual make. I have a friend that has NEVER had sex with a woman. Never dated one but insists he’s bi. He is GAY. He just won’t admit it. He is 38 years old. Homosexuality is really a self idenity. If you preceive yourself gay you are. Best estimates are about 3% of the population is gay and 1% is lesbian. You can’t do a “GIVEN” population as you go to San Fran and you would have about 25% gay (male) or in NYC it is about 15%. You go to Wyoming or Montana and you’d be lucky to get 1/2%. Further complicating this is kids today don’t look at homosexuality with the same “REVULSION” they did in the past. Many young kids would do it with the same sex simply because they are horney and it was convenient. But they aren’t gay. They just are horney. The only way to come up with a good figure is to make a standard. Such as they did with blacks (one drop of blood makes you black) (as a side note see how offensive this argument becomes by substituting black for gay) From my own experience I would say if you’re counting even ONE homosexual act 35% is too low. But if you are talking about identifying yourself as gay about 1 or 2% is right. ---
**Author:** ![kniz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@kniz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kniz)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2001, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-figures-on-the-percentage-of-gay-folks-in-any-given-population/69923/17 "2001-06-24T22:29:57Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by otto3883 \* > \*\*I was told that it was 3-5% but that Kinsey added a couple of percentage points because he believed that there were quite a few people who weren’t openly gay. \*\* I thought it was because the good doctor was both A/C and D/C. ---
**Author:** ![kniz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@kniz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kniz)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2001, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-figures-on-the-percentage-of-gay-folks-in-any-given-population/69923/18 "2001-06-24T22:38:20Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Markxxx \* > **Best estimates are about 3% of the population is gay and 1% is lesbian.** If the above is right, isn’t it ridiculous how **IN** it is for a female to say she is **bi-curious** and for males it is still **OUT** (It is isn’t it?) ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2001, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-figures-on-the-percentage-of-gay-folks-in-any-given-population/69923/19 "2001-06-24T23:01:14Z")
Just for the record, here’s a link to [What Kinsey Actually Said](http://www.ssmu.mcgill.ca/queer/info/kinsey.html). Among other things: > [@](#): > > \*\*The classification of sexual behavior as masturbatory, heterosexual, or homosexual, is, therefore, unfortunate if it suggests that only different types of persons seek out or accept each kind of sexual activity. There is nothing known in the anatomy or physiology of sexual response and orgasm which distinguishes masturbatory, heterosexual, or homosexual reactions…(Kinsey et al, 1953:446) It would clarify our thinking if the terms could be dropped completely out of our vocabulary (Kinsey et al, 1948:617). > [@](#): > > "Males do not represent two discrete populations, heterosexual and homosexual… Only the human mind invents categories and tries to force facts into pigeonholes. The living world is a continuum in each and every one of its aspects…(Kinsey et al, 1948:639). > [@](#): > > 37 per cent of the total male population has at least some overt homosexual experience to the point of orgasm between adolescence and old age. This accounts for nearly 2 males out of every 5 that one may meet. > [@](#): > > 10 per cent of the males are more or less exclusively homosexual (i.e., rate 5 or 6) for at least three years between the ages of 16 and 55. This is one male in ten in the white population. > [@](#): > > 4 per cent of the white males are exclusively homosexual throughout their lives, after the onset of adolescence. \*\* So, _depending entirely on how you define it_, one could say that Kinsey found anywhere from 4 to 37 percent of the white male population to be homosexual (but of course Kinsey himself never said any such thing). ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2001, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-figures-on-the-percentage-of-gay-folks-in-any-given-population/69923/20 "2001-06-24T23:08:16Z")
And here’s a link to summaries of a lot more studies on [the prevalence of homosexuality](http://www.indiana.edu/~kinsey/bib-homoprev.html). Again, depending on what studies you choose to quote and on your definitions, you can find support for a huge range of rates. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-figures-on-the-percentage-of-gay-folks-in-any-given-population/69923.md?page=2)