There could be twice as many LGBT people living in the United States than previously thought according to a new report from The Human Rights Campaign Foundation.
The report which was released this week analysed answers data from the US Census Bureau. It says that around eight per cent of people who answered it’s Household pulse Survey said they identified as gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender.
The result is double what previous estimates of the percentage of the population who are LGBT suggested.
The We Are Here: Understanding the Size of the LGBTQ+ Community report not only found there were a lot more queer people that previously estimated, there were also more transgender people than previous studies suggested.
According to the latest figures at least 20 million adults in the United States could be lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender – nearly 8% of the total adult population, almost double prior estimates for the LGBTQ+ community’s size. It also suggests that more than 1% of people in the United States identify as transgender, higher than any prior estimates. The report also showed that bisexual people make up the largest section of the community, coming in at four per cent.
Joni Madison, the Interim President of the Human Rights Campaign, said the results have major implications for government planning.
“LGBTQ+ people are here – in every town, in every city, in each and every ZIP code. This data shows what we’ve suspected: our community is larger and more widespread than we could have known up to this point. We’re proud to bring this data to light and set the stage for a future where all the millions of LGBTQ+ people in America enjoy full legal and lived equality. I commend the Biden administration and the U.S. Census Bureau for finally allowing researchers to count us, and look forward to seeing the LGBTQ+ community counted in further studies.” Madison said.
The study also showed that California and Texas had the largest LGBT populations with 2.6 million and 1.7 million people respectively. It also showed there were LGBT people in all states and communities.
The results of Australia’s most recent census which was conducted earlier this year are not yet known, but it won’t tell us anything about our numbers because Minister Michael Sukkar insisted the the proposed questions about sexuality were removed from the questionnaire.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics ABS has proposed asking questions about sexuality and gender in the next census in 2026.
OIP Staff
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