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SAME-SEX

SCAN

B Y T HE N U MB E R S

Gay and Lesbian Census

abulating the U.S. gay and lesbian pop-

A HARD-TO-MEASURE POPULATION STARTS COMING INTO FOCUS BY RODGER DOYLE

LOCATIONS
1. Los Angeles 2. Cook, Illinois (Chicago) 3. New York (Manhattan) 4. San Francisco 5. Harris, Texas (Houston) 6. San Diego 7. Dallas

The 10 counties with the largest numbers of gays and lesbians:

8. Maricopa, Arizona (Phoenix) 9. King, Washington (Seattle) 10. Broward, Florida

(Ft. Lauderdale) The 10 counties with the highest proportion of gays and lesbians:

1. San Francisco 2. District of Columbia 3. DeKalb, Georgia (Atlanta area) 4. New York 5. Suffolk, Massachusetts
(Boston)

6. Denver 7. Multnomah, Oregon (Portland) 8. Alameda, California (Oakland) 9. King, Washington (Seattle) 10. Fulton, Georgia (Atlanta)
SOURCE: U.S. Decennial Census, 2000

FURTHER

READING
Little, Brown, 1994.

Sex in America: A Definitive Survey. Robert T. Michael et al. The Social Organization of Sexuality: Sexual Practices in the United States.
Edward O. Laumann, John H. Gagnon, Robert T. Michael and Stuart Michaels. University of Chicago Press, 2000.

The Gay and Lesbian Atlas.

Gary J. Gates and Jason Ost. Urban Institute Press, 2004.

Citys borough of Manhattan are not far behind. Perhaps surprisingly, gays and lesbians appear in high concentrations in all regions except for the Midwest, particularly the west-central region. And gays and lesbians do not merely abound in the big metropolitan areas; they live in smaller ones as well, especially college towns such as Bloomington, Ind., Iowa City, Iowa, Corvallis, Ore., and Lawrence, Kans. Moreover, some nonmetropolitan counties such as Presidio, Texas, Lyon, Kentucky, and Shannon, South Dakota, are among the top 50 counties in terms of their proportion of gay and lesbian population. The 2000 census found that at least a quarter of a million children live in households headed by samesex couples and that nearly one in ve people in same-sex couples is 55 and older. The number of unpartnered gay and lesbian individuals can be estimated from survey data showing that 24 percent of gay men U.S. Counties Classified by Proportion of Gay or Lesbian Households and 43 percent of lesbians are couLowest quintile Three middle quintiles Highest quintile pled. By extrapolation, the proporSOURCE: U.S. Decennial Census, 2000 tion of gay men in the population is The census form asked respondents to 2.5 percent and of lesbians 1.2 percent, conclassify any unrelated people in their house- sistent with earlier research. hold as a housemate, boarder, foster child, The two-to-one disparity is curious in unmarried partner or other nonrelative. If light of studies showing that the percentages the unmarried partner is reported to be of of those claiming sexual desire for the same the same sex, that partner and the respon- sex is virtually identical for both men and dent are very likely gay or lesbian. The cen- women (7.7 and 7.5 percent, respectively). sus showed that 0.6 percent of men and 0.5 No conclusive explanation exists for this percent of women 18 years of age and older anomaly. Gary Gates of the Urban Institute live together as same-sex unmarried part- in Washington, D.C., who co-authored the ners. The data provide a good indication of recently published Gay and Lesbian Atlas, geographic distribution. The map shows the notes the evidence that womens conception proportion of households that are gay or les- of sexual orientation may be more uid than bian, and because of the likelihood of under- that of men. He suggests that women, alcounting, it categorizes the dispersion of this though they may be as prone to same-sex population by quintiles, rather than by ab- attraction, may be less willing to label that solute percentages. The map combines the attraction with a specic sexual orientation three middle quintiles for simplicity. such as gay or lesbian. As might be expected, San Francisco has the highest concentration of gays and lesbi- Rodger Doyle can be reached at ans; Washington, D.C., and New York rdoyle2@adelphia.net ulations has never been easy. Not only are many people reluctant to discuss intimate matters, but also their sense of identity evolves: todays gay man may have been straight yesterday. Like past efforts, the 2000 U.S. decennial census undoubtedly undercounted them, but it does provide substantial new informationspecically, on those gays and lesbians who live together as couples.

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SCIENTIFIC A MERIC A N

MARCH 2005

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RODGER DOYLE