Poll: What percentage of people are LGBT?

[thanatos388]

I voted for no, however what do people think of the theory that everyones a little bit bi? That every has a little sexual attraction to everyone? It's a question that comes up from time to time and was never really sure what I thought about that.

I don't know anyone in my family who is not strait and where I am people are kinda half and half on the acceptance of it.

My guess on total population would be at %20. Sounds about right and thats all the research I have on it.

 

[shrekfan246]

MOGAI

MOGWAI

There's a band, too.

All these acronyms do get quite confusing.

OT: I said no.

Spoiler: TMI typical of these threads

I find particular bits of the male physiology to be intriguing, but overall I don't think there are any men I'd say I've actually felt romantically or sexually attracted to. I also am not particularly enamored with the thought of being a catcher, though there have been a few moments... ahem.

As for how accepting my local area is, hell if I know. I would go with "many people probably don't care", but it's all based on personal anecdotes since I'm too lazy to look up official statements about Vermont's state government or anything. At least, nobody really seemed to care about the gay/lesbian/bisexual kids when I was in high school, nor the occasional cross-dresser, etc. My brother is trans as well, and while people who knew him for the ~twenty years or so before anything changed still mix up the pronouns every now and then, I believe everyone has been pretty accepting of him.

But I've got a pretty darn small sample group to pull from, so.

 

[Skatologist]

Dude, like I know this. You and I live in literally a state/area known for how many LGBT are here. I forgot where I found it, but San Francisco is maybe as high as 17 % LGBT people. Now, it could be that they just come here or something[footnote] Or if you're an Alex Jones type we have something in our water [/footnote], but I'd like to think it's more that we have a stigma against a lot of forms of sexual and gender expression around the world. I'm not sure what I am right now, I guess it's comfortable enough, but I may indeed be a form of genderqueer, since I kind of feel a bit uncomfortable being either[footnote]or really maybe any [/footnote] gender. I'm also kind of questioning sexuality since well, what does it mean to be straight or heterosexual?

 

[DarkRawen]

I voted no, because I don't consider myself to be "LGBT", and if anyone tried to refer to me by the term, I'd be very annoyed. I'm bisexual and transsexual, but that/those group/groups do/does not represent me, nor do I represent them.

Sorry if you just used the term as a "do you fit any of these letters" things, in that case I might have voted wrong, but I do think it's an important distinction to make, at least for me as an individual.

 

[freaper]

33% percent identify themselves as LGBT? You're not fooling me, Escapists...

 

[Solbasa]

Still, did I really go so far as to make straight people feel excluded? That was never my intention. Please tell me how I can improve apon that.

I voted "no". And, as a straight person, I didn't exactly feel excluded. I mainly came in here because I've been curious about the number myself, although I'm guessing the poll isn't too representative of the population at large, for the reasons people mentioned above.

But, while I'm here, I might as well try to answer the other questions. None of my family is LGBT (as far as I know), although I know a few people back where I grew up, from my school who were, primarily girls who were either lesbian or bi. (One of which in the former category was my girlfriend at the time...that ended about as well as you'd expect.) Neither there in Nova Scotia (eastern Canada if you don't know) or where I am now in Vancouver seem particularly hostile towards LGBT+ people, and I always saw it as not being any of my business. My philosophy has always been, as long as no one else is negatively affected, you can do or be whatever you want and nobody has the right to stop you.

 

[Something Amyss]

It's surprising just how many "Special Snowflakes" there are. It's as if people who make use of labels are doing so because they actually want to find other people like them who identify the same way in order to belong somewhere, everything that a by definition[footnote]Internet definition, a person who wants to be the one and only[/footnote] special snowflake wouldn't actually want to do.

It's also weird how it seems to be passed along. The bisexuals, who are often marginalised by heterosexuals and homosexuals alike, will pass it on to the pansexuals. The transsexuals will often pass it along to the genderqueer/agender/etc (not marginalising them, I just don't remember all of the above). And so on, and so on. I guess it's human nature, but....

For ease of use, I label myself a bisexual. However, I haven't ever met someone where I wasn't interested because of their gender identity. My girlfriend gets the "special snowflake" stuff, though, and it pisses me off.

Happy Asexual Awareness Week. Remember people are more aware of asexuals this week, so don't go robbing any banks or stealing kittens in the night, don't partake in the usual hobbies.

I was wondering my my asexual sense was tingling.

 

[Vault101]

actual percentages? this one is apparently (and surprisingly) hard to figure out due to all sorts of things with the data....

personally? I knew a teacher once who was gay...I know OF people who are gay but my actual experience with gay people is very limited,

I used to consider myself bi, but now I just say I'm lesbian because my "attraction" to guys (if you can call it that) is pretty much non-existent. Specifically, I think I'm into the idea of guys, but not sexually attracted to them.
.

its the beards you know? beards are badass

OT: as for me? I honestly don't know...I wonder if its the "idea" of being with another girl that's the appealing thing, and maybe theres all kinds of stuff going on like some irrational fear of having sex with a guy or insistence of preserving my "fantasy" because theres something very liberating about feeling independent of the validation of guys

ultimately I get a bit sad because statistics are not in my favour anyway

 

[Kotaro]

I'm bi myself, and my younger brother is trans.
And one of my best friends is also bi.

 

[Something Amyss]

As for how accepting my local area is, hell if I know. I would go with "many people probably don't care", but it's all based on personal anecdotes since I'm too lazy to look up official statements about Vermont's state government or anything. At least, nobody really seemed to care about the gay/lesbian/bisexual kids when I was in high school, nor the occasional cross-dresser, etc. My brother is trans as well, and while people who knew him for the ~twenty years or so before anything changed still mix up the pronouns every now and then, I believe everyone has been pretty accepting of him.

But I've got a pretty darn small sample group to pull from, so.

Vermont houses some of the largest gay communities per capita, but that doesn't change the fact that we're largely a rural state. Do you remember "Take Back Vermont?" It actually kind of surprised me how big this movement was. At the same time, you have huuuuge gay communities on both ends of the state.

We're a weird little microcosm of America.

 

[username sucks]

I voted no, because I don't consider myself to be "LGBT", and if anyone tried to refer to me by the term, I'd be very annoyed. I'm bisexual and transsexual, but that/those group/groups do/does not represent me, nor do I represent them.

Sorry if you just used the term as a "do you fit any of these letters" things, in that case I might have voted wrong, but I do think it's an important distinction to make, at least for me as an individual.

There is a reason I phrased the poll question as "Do you consider yourself to be LGBT", so you're good. Thank you for your reply.

And thank you to everyone else who has replied so far as well, but hell if I'm quoting everyone.

 

[Sleepy Sol]

I'm a straight white male.

So obviously, nope. (I might consider myself VERY VERY SLIGHTLY bicurious.)

I do play an MMO regularly with someone who is MtF trans, and I've come across a number of lesbians as well. That's my current extent of exposure to LGBTQ individuals. Have seen a very sparing handful in real life. Surprisingly, many of these individuals aren't exactly open about themselves in the progressive haven that is Mississippi.

None of my family that I know of fit the bill either.

 

[shrekfan246]

As for how accepting my local area is, hell if I know. I would go with "many people probably don't care", but it's all based on personal anecdotes since I'm too lazy to look up official statements about Vermont's state government or anything. At least, nobody really seemed to care about the gay/lesbian/bisexual kids when I was in high school, nor the occasional cross-dresser, etc. My brother is trans as well, and while people who knew him for the ~twenty years or so before anything changed still mix up the pronouns every now and then, I believe everyone has been pretty accepting of him.

But I've got a pretty darn small sample group to pull from, so.

Vermont houses some of the largest gay communities per capita, but that doesn't change the fact that we're largely a rural state. Do you remember "Take Back Vermont?" It actually kind of surprised me how big this movement was.

Well, I was pretty young at the time. Plus my family is largely liberal (with the exception of my grandparents who live in New York) and doesn't talk about politics often. Whenever politics did come up, it was usually just to make fun of Bush.

We're a weird little microcosm of America.

That's true. Hell, I'm basically a reclusive city-boy while my best friend is a hard-working farm boy; his family even includes honest-to-goodness rednecks. It's never not been odd to hear different accents out of people who grew up in the same state I have.

 

[Flunk]

I remember being told 10% in sex ed class in high school and that seemed pretty high. This poll isn't going to work though, asking this question on an internet poll is going to skew the results towards people who care about LGBT rights, who are more likely to be LGBT.

I'm male and I'm attracted to females. Yes, I know that's not interesting but that's just how I am. My policy is that I don't care what sexuality you are and I'll respect your sexuality as long as you respect mine.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

Guy who likes girls.

LGBTQIAP (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning, intersex, asexual (and/or aromantic), pansexual), but some people have found that it's too long for their tastes and have started using MOGAI (Marginalized Orientations, Gender Identities, and Intersex) instead.

Wouldn't that read MOGII?

 

[Something Amyss]

Well, I was pretty young at the time. Plus my family is largely liberal (with the exception of my grandparents who live in New York) and doesn't talk about politics often. Whenever politics did come up, it was usually just to make fun of Bush.

My family's originally from Maine, and most of my family are super-conservative. I learned not to talk politics really early. And that included sex, sexuality, gender idnetity, or anything and anyone that could count as a minority. Which was in stark contrast to all the people I hung around with. Not that everyone I knew was super liberal, but my family makes Glenn Beck look like a moderate.

It's also weird the number of friends I grew up with who are now total freaking racists, but now I'm really getting off topic.

Take Back Vermont, by the way, reminds me a lot of a certain games-related movement right now. It was supposed to be all about jobs and politics, but most people spent their times complaining about teh gheyz.

That's true. Hell, I'm basically a reclusive city-boy while my best friend is a hard-working farm boy; his family even includes honest-to-goodness rednecks. It's never not been odd to hear different accents out of people who grew up in the same state I have.

Hell, sometimes from like, a town over.

I grew up somewhere between the cities and the rural area, though, so I get a lot of both. I worked on farms and I worked tech support. And somehow, we're uber liberal on issues like LGBT rights.

 

[Hap2]

I'm bi. I figured it out only recently within the last year after spending several years overanalyzing my feelings and behaviours - not pleasant, so I don't know much about the LGBT community around here. Two of my friends are gay, and another is bi as well.

 

[Irick]

I'm genderqueer.
I am still wrestling with the philosophy of gender, but as it stands I don't really strongly identify. But, I don't really consider myself agender. I would consider myself gender fluid.

I still don't really have my sexuality pinned down yet.

 

[Olas]

What about people with weird sexual fetishes and paraphilia's? I feel like that's a side of sexuality that gets left out of the discussion a lot.

Technically I'm a strait cis male, but I'm not exactly what you'd call normal.