Here we go again….

Gallup has just released what they call, “The largest single study of the distribution of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) population in the U.S. on record.”

Well it may be the largest but is it the most accurate?

NO.

While some say that the original 10% LGBT population number which was based on Alfred Kinsey studies from 1948 is too high Dr. Gary Gates an openly gay researcher from the Williams Instutute in 2010 did his own study to purposely debunk Kinsey’s numbers claiming that only 3.9% of the population was gay, although he did find that 8.2% reported same-sex experiences which is close to the 10% that Kinsey reported. (Remember in 1942 there was no such thing as “openly gay”)

Now Gallup has released a new poll stating that 3.4 percent of the population represent as openly LGBT using the flawed research methods that count more on numbers instead of methods to get the information much like Dr. Gary Gates.

Gates states that “Kinsey didn’t use a population-based sample, so regardless of the point-estimate, it came from a self-selected group of men,” but Kinsey’s interviews of such men and women were voluntary and done with complete advanced permission and anonymity. While Gates and Gallups information was gathered by cold calls with the person’s identity known.

Gallups recent survey was done with 121,290 Gallup Daily tracking interviews conducted between June 1 and Sept. 30, 2012 that was done through telephone interviews that were not anonymous and used very pointed generic questions the main one being if they if they OPENLY identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender. (Much the same as Gates 2010 study’s numbers which he gathered from public sample polling) So the 3.4% question does not represent the total LGBT community but only those who are openly out.

Gallup itself does acknowledges:

Measuring sexual orientation and gender identity can be challenging since these concepts involve complex social and cultural patterns. As a group still subject to social stigma, many of those who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender may not be forthcoming about this identity when asked about it in a survey. Therefore, it’s likely that some Americans in what is commonly referred to as “the closet” would not be included in the estimates derived from the Gallup interviews. Thus, the 3.4% estimate can best be represented as adult Americans who publicly identify themselves as part of the LGBT community when asked in a survey context”

And while Gallup does point this out I am sure that this is not something that the FRC, AFA, or NOM will go out of their way to be made known.

And as for Dr. Gary Gates, an openly gay man by the way. Perhaps he should try to stop courting fame by debunking Alfred Kinsey and perhaps do some work on finding a way to correct and accurate way to collect his data before he presents his findings.