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How many LGBT people are there?
The actual number of people
who identify themselves as LGBT is not known. Because of
a lack of research focusing on the size of the population
and the fear that many LGBT people, especially youth, have
concerning revealing their sexual identity, reliable data are difficult to obtain.
Moreover, in the few surveys that do provide data, respondents
are usually asked about sexual behavior, not orientation
or identity.
The popular estimate that 10 percent of the male
population and 5 to 6 percent of the female population are
exclusively or predominately gay and lesbian is based on
the Kinsey Institute data. Laumann and associates (1994),
using the national probability Health and Social Life Survey
combined with data collected in the General Social Survey,
found that 2.8 percent of men and 1.4 percent of women identified
as gay or lesbian, while 7.7 percent of men and 7.5 percent
of women reported homosexual desire. Michaels (1996) analyzed
the limited available data and estimated that in the United
States 9.8 percent of men and 5 percent of women report same-gender sexual behavior since
puberty; 7.7 percent of men and 7.5 percent of women report
same-gender desire; and 2.8 percent of men and 1.4 percent
of women report homosexual or bisexual identity. An analysis
of U.S. census data has provided the most solid evidence
of the presence and certain social characteristics of lesbians
and gays among the general population. In the 1990 census,
gay and lesbian respondents could identify themselves as
unmarried partners. Estimates from the 1990 census indicate
that 1.63 percent of people aged 15 and older nationwide
reported themselves as unmarried partners of the householder.
Bisexual
individuals are perhaps the most misunderstood population
within the spectrum of LGBT populations. For some bisexual
people, their bisexual identity is continuous and fixed across
their life span. For others, sexual orientation may be more
fluid and marked by changes from heterosexual to either lesbian
or gay or vice versa. It is not uncommon for gay men and
lesbians in recalling their “coming out” process
to remember self-identifying as bisexual. Although the stages
of homosexual identity formation denote that this is a
very common experience, that does not negate the fact that
bisexuality is a distinct sexual orientation. Nevertheless,
mistaken beliefs about bisexuality are prevalent among lesbians
and gays as well as the heterosexual population, and, unfortunately,
may also be internalized by bisexual people. The following
are some of the most persistent myths:
- Bisexuals are confused
about their identity.
- Bisexuals are afraid to be lesbian
or gay because of social stigma and oppression by the majority.
- Bisexuals
have become “stuck” in the coming-out
process.
- Bisexuals have knuckled under to the social pressure
to “pass” as
straight.
- Bisexuals are hypersexual and will have sex with
anyone.
As health care providers may also embrace some of
those myths and be inclined to view bisexual individuals
as being psychologically or emotionally damaged, being developmentally
immature, or having a personality disorder, Fox (1996), in
reviewing the literature, asserts that “research has
found no evidence of psychopathology or psychological maladjustment
in bisexual men and women.”
Gender identity is even
less understood. “Transgender” is
an umbrella term that encompasses a variety of people including
transsexuals, cross-dressers, drag kings and queens, as well
as bigender and androgynous individuals. "Transgender” came
into common usage during the 1980s. Previously, people
with mixed gender and sexual characteristics were described as transsexuals or transvestites,
terms emanating from the psychiatric vocabulary. “ Transgender” comes
from the transgender community and is, therefore, the preferred
term in working with transgender people.
There are no probability
studies of transgender people reported in the literature
and no effort underway to develop measures for inclusion
in Federal surveys. Some psychiatric literature estimates
that 1 percent of the population may have had a transgender
experience, but thisestimate is based only on transgender
people who might have sought mental health services. Approximately
25,000 U.S. citizens have undergone sex reassignment surgery.
An estimated 60,000 consider themselves candidates for such
surgery, and the doctors who perform such surgeries report
long waiting lists. Transgender people exhibit the
full range of sexual orientations, from homosexual to bisexual
and heterosexual.
LGBT people face many of the same issues all people face
as they progress through life. As people, our commonality
is linked by our experiences with the “problems of
living”—those events, occurring during life,
either expected or unexpected, which, in the absence of sufficient
ability to cope, may lead to deleterious behaviors. However,
LGBT youth may have the most difficult life cycle issues.
Most youth feel awkward and embarrassed by sexual conflicts. But, LGBT youth have an even more difficult
time as such youth are not recognized as even existing within
U.S. society, for sexual orientation is assumed heterosexual
unless adults choose differently. Although “coming
out” or sexual identity formation can occur in adulthood,
the awareness of being different (i.e., not heterosexual)
usually occurs during childhood. However, children who disclose
to their family that they are LGBT risk rejection, ostracism,
and possibly harm from the one societal unit always expected
to give unconditional care, love, and support. The other
traditional adolescent support systems—such as schools,
faith organizations, and peer groups—may have similar
negative reactions.
To read the rest of the Healthy People 2010 Companion Document
for Lebian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) Health,
please click here: http://www.glma.org/_data/n_0001/resources/live/HealthyCompanionDoc3.pdf
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