(Community Matters) Charles Blow on Thursday’s released Gallup poll of LGBT self-identification indicating more Americans of color & lower socio-economic status of those identifying as LGBT
This is counter-intuitive from experience and data we learned in the middle of the AIDS crisis, in the early 90s. Has it really changed this significantly and if so, why/how? Without any scientific backing, I’m imagining the variances in LGBT status among whites and more well educated males reflects some perceived threat from self reporting.
The Williams Institute Summary of report:
Non-white Americans more likely to identify as LGBT
African-Americans and other racial and ethnic minorities are more likely than white Americans to identify as LGBT. The results show that 4.6% of African-Americans identify as LGBT along with 4.0% of Hispanics and 4.3% of Asians. Among white Americans, the figure was 3.2%.
Younger Americans three times more likely than seniors to identify as LGBT
Younger Americans (age 18-29) are more than three times as likely as seniors aged 65 and older to identify as LGBT (6.4% v. 1.9%, respectively). Among those aged 30 to 64, LGBT identity declines with age — at 3.2% for 30- to 49-year-olds and 2.6% for 50- to 64-year-olds.
A larger portion of lower educated Americans identify as LGBT compared to college graduates
Contrary to many studies using smaller data samples, Americans with lower levels of education are more likely than their higher educated counterparts to identify as LGBT. Among those with a high school education or less, 3.5% identify as LGBT compared to 2.8% of those with a college degree and 3.2% of those with a graduate education. LGBT identification is highest among those with some college education but not a college degree, at 4.0%.
LGBT women are as likely as non-LGBT women to be raising children
The analyses also show that raising children under age 18 in the home is as common among LGBT women as it is among non-LGBT women. In both groups, about a third had children. That was also true of non-LGBT men. Just 16% of them were raising a child in their home.
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