by Garance
Franke-Ruta May 31 2012, 2:17 PM ET
From The Atlantic Magazine's online
edition:
“Surveys show a
shockingly high fraction think a quarter of the country is gay or
lesbian, when the reality is that it's probably less than 2 percent.”
Here's an excerpt from that article. We'll discuss below:
But what percentage of the population is actually gay or lesbian? With the debate over same-sex marriage again an emerging fault line in American political life, the answer comes as a surprise: A lower number than you might think -- and a much, much, much lower one than most Americans believe.
In surveys conducted in 2002 and 2011, pollsters at Gallup found that members of the American public massively overestimated how many people are gay or lesbian. In 2002, a quarter of those surveyed guessed upwards of a quarter of Americans were gay or lesbian (or "homosexual," the third option given). By 2011, that misperception had only grown, with more than a third of those surveyed now guessing that more than 25 percent of Americans are gay or lesbian. Women and young adults were most likely to provide high estimates, approximating that 30 percent of the population is gay. Overall, "U.S. adults, on average, estimate that 25 percent of Americans are gay or lesbian," Gallup found. Only 4 percent of all those surveyed in 2011 and about 8 percent of those surveyed in 2002 correctly guessed that fewer than 5 percent of Americans identify as gay or lesbian.
Don's Comments: It's long been obvious to me, that the perceptions of many Americans are askew when the subject of gays, lesbians, gay marriage, gay adoption, etc., arises. I know hundreds of people. I know a select couple of dozen, intimately. It's true that some of these people may not share my heterosexual orientation. I don't know if any of those in my closest circles of friends, are gay, lesbian, or have those aspirations. There's no reason to know.
It's not that it's taboo or unspeakable
in my circles. Quite the contrary, most of those closest to me are
similar to me in candor, outspokenness, and willingness to share
thoughts and ideology. The truth is, that everyone's individual
sexual orientation is personal, and not generally hauled out for
casual discussion. Nor does it need to be. It's simply a non-issue.
Considering that premise may make the
wildly out of sync perceptions Americans seem to share, about the
percentage of gay's in America, more understandable. Recent years
have shown a reverse trend in the popularity and exposure of the
presence of gay and lesbians in the media. What prime time sit-com
would be complete without at least one gay individual in the
storyline. Most have a gay couple, or the gay character's gay friend
or friends, making appearances on a regular basis. While we're here,
we might not overlook the other trends which seem popular on
television shows at the current time. You must have an affable black
male or outrageous black female character. A Hispanic or Asian
character may be substituted, but always central to the storyline.
An alien dropping from his spaceship, in 2013, having only prime time
series as their grounds for deciding on how America works socially,
would have a very skewed perception. In reality, many of us living
in rural or suburban America, cannot relate to any of those
situations, except to laugh at them on the TV screen.
It's not our reality. I recently left
a club that has existed for eight years having had only one ethnic
members, in that time. Jimmy Buffett fan clubs are not known for
their large percentage of ethnic participants, much like a Jimmy
Buffett concert. White middle and upper middle class faces as far
ass the eye can see. That leads us further into our glimpse at
skewed numbers.
We are all subject to the perceptions
we arrive at from the clubs we belong to, the neighborhoods we live
in, and the social sets we enjoy. The problem with that is, that it
makes it hard to think outside of that restrictive box. We may not
know any, or maybe only one or two, gay people. But, we see that all
the television shows, the ads for gay rights, the marches we see on
the 6:00 PM news from large cities, prove to us that there are gays
literally everywhere. It's easy to understand that given the out of
sync with reality exposure Middle America gets via the media, that so
many people would think there are far more gay people in America, and
the World, than there actually are. Interesting that most people
surveyed on the street, believe that there are twice as many foreign
born people and illegal aliens living in the U.S. than the true
numbers prove. Again, these beliefs are based on media insights, not
clear headed thought and a little research.
My bottom line is that there is no
reason for Middle America to be concerned about the right of gay and
lesbian Americans to marry, adopt, or inherit one an-others estates.
With the percentage of gays in this country being under 5%, and most
likely closer to 2%, does it really make any difference to the
average citizen? The answer is no. The truth is, whatever your
preference in cars, housing, occupation, or even your sexuality, has
no bearing whatever on how good a person, neighbor, or citizen you
are.
So, why rail against something that
doesn't harm you in any way? Why take issue with another American
citizen's right to pursue life in his or her, own way? Instead of
wasting your thoughts and energy on these trivial matters, why not
use your time to help the poor, needy, handicapped, or mentally
challenged citizens, who actually may live in your neighborhood. Or,
maybe you should be watchful when in your social group, to pick out
the abused wife/girlfriend/husband/boyfriend. It's likelier there is
someone in that category in your group, than there is a gay person.
Offer them understanding and any help you can provide, which may only
be directing them to where help exists.
Instead of focusing on our differences,
perceived or actual, lets focus on our sameness. We can all use a
little compassion and latitude in the way we live our lives. Let's
focus on that.
Don Winfield
