# New Gallup survey of % of gay people by state. Does it fall in line with your expectations? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 17, 2013, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-gallup-survey-of-of-gay-people-by-state-does-it-fall-in-line-with-your-expectations/650584 "2013-02-17T07:08:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Shmendrik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Shmendrik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shmendrik)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2013, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-gallup-survey-of-of-gay-people-by-state-does-it-fall-in-line-with-your-expectations/650584/21 "2013-02-18T19:23:33Z")
> [@DMark](#): > > Let’s try this one more time. > > … > > My point is, random sampling nationwide/state by state is great for groups of people who do not tend to necessarily group together in separate communities: Christians; men over 6 feet tall; blind people; fat people; people who are left handed. These groups will indeed be found randomly, in every community. > > But trying to do a random sampling nationwide on groups who do somewhat tend to flock together in specific geographical areas: Gays; Cubans; Hasidic Jews; professional surfers; snowboarders; farmers; cotton pickers? Those are groups of people you have to find in more specific locations than just randomly asking to find any of them in Tuscon, Arizona. > > Short of actually counting numbers on census polls, I just think random sampling of very specific groups has limits to value - especially if geographical influence is not taken into consideration. No, that doesn’t make sense. Unless you sample by throwing darts at a map, geographic concentrations don’t make any difference. ---
**Author:** ![FrankJBN](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f0a364/32.png) [@FrankJBN](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FrankJBN)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2013, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-gallup-survey-of-of-gay-people-by-state-does-it-fall-in-line-with-your-expectations/650584/22 "2013-02-19T16:32:48Z")
libraries, archives and museums, and there’s an unusually high percentage of gay folks in those vocations. " have a reliable source? ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2013, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-gallup-survey-of-of-gay-people-by-state-does-it-fall-in-line-with-your-expectations/650584/23 "2013-02-20T17:40:04Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Looks about right, although I’m questioning the DC result. Maybe it’s just because it’s all urban, but would you even get that high a percentage in SF? I’m suspicous of the DC number as well. It’s twice as high as the most “gay” state (Hawaii, 5.1%). There’s got to be a mistake in their polling. Michigan is mid-high on the list, which is what I’d expect. The Royal Oak/Ferndale area is something of a gay hotspot. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2013, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-gallup-survey-of-of-gay-people-by-state-does-it-fall-in-line-with-your-expectations/650584/24 "2013-02-20T17:52:13Z")
> [@Diceman](#): > > I’m suspicous of the DC number as well. Maybe they oversampled Republican Congressmen who were uncharacteristically honest. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2013, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-gallup-survey-of-of-gay-people-by-state-does-it-fall-in-line-with-your-expectations/650584/25 "2013-02-20T18:31:59Z")
> [@Diceman](#): > > Michigan is mid-high on the list, which is what I’d expect. The Royal Oak/Ferndale area is something of a gay hotspot. Which I find fascinating, having once lived there. It sure as hell wasn’t a gay mecca in 1978 ;). ---
**Author:** ![DataX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@DataX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DataX)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2013, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-gallup-survey-of-of-gay-people-by-state-does-it-fall-in-line-with-your-expectations/650584/26 "2013-02-20T19:04:10Z")
As a straight male - who has read his share of straight dating profiles in the Baltimore/DC area - I can make these observations about DC: 1. There are ALOT of fairly young professionals in government/policy/law in the DC area 2. They are completely different than the matches from Baltimore. (One of the DC matches claimed she was mentioned in the state of the union) (Another works on arms control policy with Russia) (likes to read the works of German authors in the original German) 3. Severe over achievers 4. Many are not originally from DC - they moved there after college vs women from Baltimore who read twilight (not that there is anything wrong with that) I think - IMHO - someone who is gay is more likely to leave their hometown than someone who is not. I am not sure how big a factor this plays, but there is a HUGE difference between DC and almost anyplace Baltimore suburbs for example. ---
**Author:** ![chula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a4c791/32.png) [@chula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chula)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2013, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-gallup-survey-of-of-gay-people-by-state-does-it-fall-in-line-with-your-expectations/650584/27 "2013-02-20T21:47:16Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Looks about right, although I’m questioning the DC result. Maybe it’s just because it’s all urban, but would you even get that high a percentage in SF? > > I suspect many of the states on the low end are under-reported due to closetedness. The number cited for San Francisco is generally 15.4%. I’ve never lived in DC, but that number doesn’t sound high to me at all. There’s a gay neighborhood in DC and all. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2013, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-gallup-survey-of-of-gay-people-by-state-does-it-fall-in-line-with-your-expectations/650584/28 "2013-02-20T22:04:01Z")
> [@chula](#): > > The number cited for San Francisco is generally 15.4%. I didn’t know that. Maybe I just haven’t been spending enough time in the Castro or on Folsom St. 🙂 OK, here you go:[Gays in large cities in the US.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBT_demographics_of_the_United_States#By_city) What’s with the gay-hate for NYC? ---
**Author:** ![Antinor01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2013, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-gallup-survey-of-of-gay-people-by-state-does-it-fall-in-line-with-your-expectations/650584/29 "2013-02-20T23:11:40Z")
> [@chula](#): > > The number cited for San Francisco is generally 15.4%. I’ve never lived in DC, but that number doesn’t sound high to me at all. There’s a gay neighborhood in DC and all. Or a place like Palm Springs with an estimated 33% gay population. ---
**Author:** ![Yookeroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yookeroo/32/323_2.png) [@Yookeroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yookeroo)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2013, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-gallup-survey-of-of-gay-people-by-state-does-it-fall-in-line-with-your-expectations/650584/30 "2013-02-20T23:37:23Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > OK, here you go:[Gays in large cities in the US.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBT_demographics_of_the_United_States#By_city) > > What’s with the gay-hate for NYC? NYC? I figured LA would be a lot higher. At least higher than San Diego. And Dallas. Really, Dallas? As in Texas? And why is Boston so high? I wouldn’t have expected that, but I admit to being pretty ignorant about a lot of the east coast. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2013, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-gallup-survey-of-of-gay-people-by-state-does-it-fall-in-line-with-your-expectations/650584/31 "2013-02-21T00:14:48Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > OK, here you go:[Gays in large cities in the US.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBT_demographics_of_the_United_States#By_city) > > What’s with the gay-hate for NYC? NYC just has a ton of people. Look at the actual numbers. San Fran might be 15% of the population, but that’s just 94,234 people. Whereas NYC is listed at just 4.5% but yet that’s 272,493 people, about 3x as much! ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2013, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-gallup-survey-of-of-gay-people-by-state-does-it-fall-in-line-with-your-expectations/650584/32 "2013-02-23T20:15:07Z")
> [@FrankJBN](#): > > libraries, archives and museums, and there’s an unusually high percentage of gay folks in those vocations. > " > > have a reliable source? Only reliable anecdote. I don’t think this is the kind of thing anyone wants surveys or articles done about. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2013, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-gallup-survey-of-of-gay-people-by-state-does-it-fall-in-line-with-your-expectations/650584/33 "2013-02-23T21:45:59Z")
The conclusion in the bottom line section is interesting. The author, Gates, seems to think states with high percentages appear that way because those states are more liberal and people feel safer disclosing their self-identification, and he considers if “less likely” that gays move to certain states. Not sure I agree with that. How do get to 15% in DC if LGBTs don’t move there? It’s not like a greater percentage are born there. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2013, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-gallup-survey-of-of-gay-people-by-state-does-it-fall-in-line-with-your-expectations/650584/34 "2013-02-23T23:29:19Z")
> [@FrankJBN](#): > > libraries, archives and museums, and there’s an unusually high percentage of gay folks in those vocations. > " > > have a reliable source? I’m a librarian, and I can say there’s a stereotype within the profession that a high percentage of male librarians and archivists are gay. However, while I can’t cite this, I remember seeing recently that there had been a survey of librarians that indicated that the actual percentage of gay men in the field was only something like 3-5%. I could easily believe it’s true that a larger than usual percentage of gay men working in libraries, archives, or museums are out to their coworkers, though. Again, no cite, but I remember hearing in library school that about 2/3 of gay men who are librarians are out at work. Librarianship is a fairly gay-friendly field, and IIRC the American Library Association was the first professional organization in the US to have an LGBT group. Since a large majority of librarians are women, I could also see how a gay man who’s a librarian might wish to be open about it just so his many female coworkers know that he’s not interested. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2013, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-gallup-survey-of-of-gay-people-by-state-does-it-fall-in-line-with-your-expectations/650584/35 "2013-02-24T16:01:11Z")
> [@Lamia](#): > > I’m a librarian, and I can say there’s a stereotype within the profession that a high percentage of male librarians and archivists are gay. However, while I can’t cite this, I remember seeing recently that there had been a survey of librarians that indicated that the actual percentage of gay men in the field was only something like 3-5%. But that might be higher than the percentage of straight men. It’s all in the context. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2013, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-gallup-survey-of-of-gay-people-by-state-does-it-fall-in-line-with-your-expectations/650584/36 "2013-02-24T17:49:27Z")
> [@Lamia](#): > > I’m a librarian, and I can say there’s a stereotype within the profession that a high percentage of male librarians and archivists are gay. However, while I can’t cite this, I remember seeing recently that there had been a survey of librarians that indicated that the actual percentage of gay men in the field was only something like 3-5%. > [@Beware\_of\_Doug](#): > > But that might be higher than the percentage of straight men. It’s all in the context. I see that my wording was unclear, but the survey indicated that a small percentage of male librarians were gay, not that a small percentage of all librarians were gay men. Since only about 15% of all librarians are men, if 5% of all librarians were gay men then that would be 1/3 of all male librarians – far more than the percentage of gay men in the general population. I haven’t been able to turn up the blog post where I read about this study, which I’m fairly certain was a recent one, but a little Googling did turn up a 1996 study (PDF) of male librarians where 9% self-identified as gay. That may be a higher percentage than would be found in the general population, but it’s still a minority of all male librarians. The same study indicates that about 80% of the male librarians surveyed considered “Effeminate, probably gay” a stereotype of male librarians. This was also the stereotype recognized by the largest number of respondents. ---
**Author:** ![Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f04885/32.png) [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2013, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-gallup-survey-of-of-gay-people-by-state-does-it-fall-in-line-with-your-expectations/650584/37 "2013-02-24T22:28:59Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > I didn’t know that. Maybe I just haven’t been spending enough time in the Castro or on Folsom St. 🙂 > > OK, here you go:[Gays in large cities in the US.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBT_demographics_of_the_United_States#By_city) > > What’s with the gay-hate for NYC? The city that really stands out on that list is Sacramento-any reason why? ---
**Author:** ![Molesworth\_2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9dc877/32.png) [@Molesworth\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Molesworth_2)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2013, 10:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-gallup-survey-of-of-gay-people-by-state-does-it-fall-in-line-with-your-expectations/650584/38 "2013-02-25T10:16:55Z")
People are people. The percentage of gay people would be virtually identical in every state. The article is merely about how many of those people “identify” or self-report as being gay. I’d put that down to cultural influences, although the large difference between South and North Dakota is admittedly quite intriguing. ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2013, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-gallup-survey-of-of-gay-people-by-state-does-it-fall-in-line-with-your-expectations/650584/39 "2013-02-25T15:03:41Z")
> [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](#): > > The city that really stands out on that list is Sacramento-any reason why? It’s the state capitol, so it’s full of political types. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2013, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-gallup-survey-of-of-gay-people-by-state-does-it-fall-in-line-with-your-expectations/650584/40 "2013-02-25T18:32:24Z")
CapitAl. I keep seeing it lately, sorry: capitol is the building, capital is the city. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-gallup-survey-of-of-gay-people-by-state-does-it-fall-in-line-with-your-expectations/650584.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-gallup-survey-of-of-gay-people-by-state-does-it-fall-in-line-with-your-expectations/650584.md?page=3)