Andrew Malcolm, IBD:
A massive new survey published this morning reveals that only 3.4% of American adults publicly identify themselves as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender, with the highest percentage coming among the younger, less-educated non-whites.
The new Gallup Poll of more than 121,000 adults, the largest of its kind on record, wass conducted during the past four months. It finds the percentage of self-reported LGBT Americans to be much smaller than a general impression derived from their presence in popular culture and their perceived influence in liberal American politics.
The special report found 3.4% of adult Americans publicly reporting themselves as personally identifying with those categories, 92.2% saying they do not and 4.4% refusing to say or claiming not to know.
Given the stigma often attached by some to those categories, some unknown portion of the Didn’t Say’s and No’s presumably are choosing to remain in the closet, holding down the LGBT number somewhat.
“This initial analysis,” Gallup reports, “reveals new insights into the composition of the LGBT community in the U.S. In particular, the findings challenge both media and cultural stereotypes to reveal that the LGBT population is in a number of ways not that different from the broader U.S. population.”
Gallup also found the social characteristics of those self-reporting themselves as LGBT is dramatically different from their portrayal in the media as largely white, well-educated and well-to-do.
The largest percentage (4.6%) came among blacks, followed by Asians (4.3%), Hispanics (4%) and non-Hispanic whites (3.2%).
Results showed that a larger percentage of women, especially younger women, reported themselves as LGBT (3.6%) compared to men (3.3%).
And Gallup reports those publicly asserting to be LGBT tend to be younger, less-educated and less wealthy than the rest of the population.
Does this mean “Will & Grace” lied to me? — and that “The New Normal,” you know, isn’t?
Frankly, I don’t much care about the numbers, save that I get tired of the outsized political influence exerted by the politicized portion of the LGBT community, be they in media, involved in civic activism, or in the academy.
Mostly I’d just like to watch TV shows that don’t feel the need to feature at least one gay or lesbian character. Or at least, will do so without resorting to a contemporary rewriting of the noble savage myth, where the homosexual character, for all his or her foibles, is at heart a truly kind and wonderful human being.
A gay villain. Who wasn’t driven to his or her villainy by the hurtful taunts of redneck homophobes — but rather engaged in villainy because he or she is just an evil asshole. Show me that, decoupled from the inevitable, organized public outcry suggesting such was an attempt to vilify the LGBT community, and the perfunctory apology by the network and disavowal of any such intent by the contrite writer/producer.
Then I’ll know we’ve reached a state of equality — not a state of special pleading that poses as a call for equality.
What they also don’t want us to know is that the politically vocal are a small fraction of the LGBT populace. Most of them are just getting along with their lives like everyone else.
I’m with you on the gay villain thing, or indeed the black villain, the Asian villain, whichever. Once we get to the point that we have a villain who happens to be gay we will have moved in the right direction, at least a little, as opposed to singling out every villain who isn’t a straight white male as some kind of attack on the other.
“only 3.4%%”? I’m surprised that it’s that high.
Except for Bisexual co-eds of course.
The internet wouldn’t lie.
Then again, if I had my way, the result would be the collapse of the notion of identity politics, and we cannot have that.
Ahem. Omar from The Wire. A twofer.
The Wire has an artsy-fartsy pedigree to an extent. They are allowed to single out the other.
When they have them on NCIS or something like that, it will mean more.
Luther Mahoney from Homicide: Life on the Streets. Not gay, but a sonofabitch. With an evil sister.
Kinda destroys that “One in ten” claim, huh?
I’d bet some of them, such as the young women, reported because they’ve experimented (referred to as “questioning” under the LBGTQA umbrella, right?). Sex Ed and the media have been encouraging kids to experiment for at least a generation, despite their claim that it’s not a choice, they’re born this way.
That’s a relief. For a minute there a was afraid the internet was lying to me about what happens in college dorms.
The internet lies, Ernst. Now, the letters to Penthouse? Totally true.
A gay villain. Who wasn’t driven to his or her villainy by the hurtful taunts of redneck homophobes — but rather engaged in villainy because he or she is just an evil asshole
Go back to the older movies/TV/novels and the villains often were gay, though their gayness was hinted at only darkly. The idea was that of course someone that evil is gay, because gayness is a perversion and evil people are sexually perverted.
Which, they probably are, but there are many ways to be a pervert.
I would call your attention to the evil parallel universe in Deep Space 9, wherein Major Kira’s character was the “Intendant,” who kept both male and female humans around as sex toys.
Kinda destroys that “One in ten” claim, huh?
The 10% number came from the perverted research of Kinsey, who derived his figures from prisoner populations. It was debunked or at least known to be suspect almost immediately, but the idea that humans are a lot more, er, “adventurous” than Ozzie and Harriet would let on was too delicious to let go of.
Omar was a character who it turned out was stealing from other drug dealers and who, in the end, was a sympathetic character. So I disagree with your reading.
More complex as a character, yes. But then, that show was one of the best ever on TV.
I’d like to buy a “disavowel,” please… ;-)
Omar became an anti-hero and thus sympathetic.
Luther Mahoney (David Simon wrote both stories) was an irredeemable bastard coated bastard with bastard filling. Again, a black drug dealer who was evil personified and even though he was executed by police, invoking a massive cover-up and revenge killings, never was sympathetic. He was a modern day Iago.
Kinsey was himself gay or at the least bisexual. He also misreported many of his findings or “interpreted” them to fit his conclusion.
His results are to be disregarded as bunkum.
I dunno, Xerxes in “300” was pretty gay. Even less P.C. since he was Persian (how do you like that, Ayatollah?)
May I suggest an “a”?
Fixed, thanks. It was all the language talk I was doing simultaneously.
Yeah, Libby, but back then gay was considered beautiful and appropriate. Or so the Satyricon taught me.
“A gay villain.”
According to the Guardian, the new Bond villain take an, um, unorthodox interest in our hero:
I wonder if we’ll hear protests.
I remember the outrage and protests over Cruising. I think it stunned Friedkin.
Takes, even.
Jeff,
“I wonder if we’ll hear protests.”
I’d expect some kind of muttering, regardless of the film’s particulars. There are, after all, people whose mission in life is to protest at any perceived or hallucinated slight. Indignation is like currency to some people. Or a box to stand on and thereby get noticed.
Please. This Bond isn’t even worth viewing. He doesn’t smoke. He drinks Heineken. And now he doesn’t chase tail?
Does he even carry a gun or is he going to overcome the bad guys with witty banter?
Some of our best serial killers were homosexual.
Decorating and serial killing are like their thing, you know?
Pish-tosh. This Bond is friggin’ awesome. QoS was merely adequate, but Casino Royale is as much fun as I’ve had at a movie not featuring Hobbits.
Alec, there are a very large number of serial killers who are gay and black. A disproportionate amount not unlike the number of blacks represented in the NFL.
“Then I’ll know we’ve reached a state of equality — not a state of special pleading that poses as a call for equality.” Ain’t. Gonna. Happen.
I’m willing to bet the study was skewed even further by guys claiming to be lesbians trapped in a male body.
Ya know, Blake, I’ve met those guys.
Wouldn’t surprise me if that 3.sumphin% isn’t grossly inflated by wanna-pretend liberals seeking to inflate the size of their Victims du Jour.
I suspect the 3 to 4% number is high. Except for drunk co-eds in college kissing. But that should not count.
Alec, there are a very large number of serial killers who are gay and black.
I knew it!
Off topic but: http://evilbloggerlady.blogspot.com/2012/10/missouri-us-senate-race-too-close-to.html
I’ve seen similar polls, EBL, always with others suggesting McCaskill is still 5-6 pts ahead.
I suspect it’s going to come down to turnout. If Akin wins, and the GOP didn’t help him out because it was looking for a kind of scapegoat social con from which to distance itself to ease the fears of moderates, I hope he leverages that against them for the entirety of his tenure.
To Akin’s advantage, Claire McCaskill is one of those especially repellent Democrats. I’ll never forget her sneering that McCain would likely not live through the presidency during the 2008 election. She was pretty arrogant and snide during the whole march to pass Obamacare, too. I’d vote for Akin just to get that smirking Dem out of Congress.
Heineken? F*** that s***, Pabst Blue Ribbon!
Heh. All my poser college friends drank Heineken back in the day.
PBR is one of those beers that you call a “lawnmower beer”. You know, you just mowed the grass and are hot and thirsty. You don’t drink it because it tastes good.
At Applebees last week I mentioned I had cheap beer at home and the server said, “What, PBR?”
It wasn’t, but I think the next time I buy beer it might be.
It is super cheap and not terrible, but I don’t like beer much.
When I lived in Pittsburgh, they were marketing Rolling Rock as a premium. Man, that was some skunky beer, but I saw college kids drinking it all the time.
Cheap beer? Iron City, better known as IC to the locals or “arns”.
Cheap beer? Iron City
talk about skunky
A combination of reading and experience has taught me to shy away from beer in clear or green bottles because they get skunky. Rolling Rock, green bottle. So’s Heineken.
But then, Bond is a Brit. They probably think skunky beer is the tits.
sloe joe news
Joe Biden to Crowd of Supporters: “How Many of You Know Someone Who Served in Iraq or Iran?” (Video)
talk about skunky
Totally. It’s Deperation Beer when you have friends over and it’s three more days to pay day.
The worst, cheapest beer is Schaefer Light.
Mike, I used to laugh myself silly when I first moved back east and everyone thought Coors was the bomb. They had just started marketing it on the east coast and it was a poser beer.
My dad wouldn’t even drink that shit after he mowed the grass on Saturday.
Yeah, I never did understand all the Coors-love from the east coast.
I always liked Mickey’s Malt Liquor okay. Natural Lite was the gutter swill and Keystone was its nearly as bad equivalent. Miller genuine Draft was “the usual” since it was cheapish. I sort of enjoyed Coor’s Extra Gold but knew better to say so out loud. Sometimes I claimed to like Tecate or Corona. I did genuinely like Foster’s(not really imported), Shiner Bock, and Zeigenbock okay.
I got really extra-pissed on Zima once in a hotel at an anime convention which sounds sad but it was one of the more fun nights of my life. And I didn’t end up passed out on top of haystacks. There was an “unofficial showing” in a private hotel room that turned into the most well oiled bozo party of all time. It was just fifteen male nerds (who were all strangers!) getting drunk on free booze someone )who? I dunno!) bought in and started passing around. We were mainly making fun of a Yamato/Starblazers movie together. I woke up on a fake hotel couch, and a guys stepped out of the bathroom in an Urusei Yatsura T-shirt and camo-shorts and he said ” Hey man you had a rough night last night! Everybody else woke up a couple of hours ago. Is anybody out looking for you? If so give them a call. If not let’s you and me go down to the lobby restaurant and get some of the pancake buffet before they clear it away. I’ll buy!” Then he went to the dealer room and I went to go find the guy I drove in with. Good times! Nor did I wake up with make up on or a weird hair cut or a permanent marker mustache. It was a bunch of guy nerds from different cities all having fun together with no first names and no consequences or danger or ulterior motives. It almost restored my faith in humanity.
The beer posers were drinking ‘not really imported’ Guinness Stout back when I was in high school. Personally I thought it was to beer as Moxie Cola was to soda pop.
When I was old enough to legally drink I went to Double Dave’s Pizzeria, and bought a $7.50 bottle of Chimay Ale which is supposedly brewed by Trappist Monks in Belgium. I did not care for it.
brewed by Trappist Monks in Belgium.
i remember walking through brugge in ’84 and seeing a dude dressed as a monk sitting on chair with a chick sitting on his knee drinking beer. some sort of festival going on.
All I know is gay or no gay with a little luck they can find them a girl with a truck, yeah?
I’d guess the 98%+ LGBT number in Guerneville Ca skews the overall percentage nationwide. But we should ask Rusty Hips and tha All-LGBT Review if we want to know the truth.
Haven’t had it in a long time, but PBR in a bottle used to be my favorite of the non “premium” beers. From a can, everything justs tastes like aluminum.
First time voter who works in my office “Why are you voting for Obama?” “Because he doesn’t want to kill gay people” “Wait, what? You think Mitt Romney wants to kill gay people” “Republicans want to kill gay people” “Where did you hear that?” “Everyone knows that”. After some back and forth, she finally admitted Republicans might not actually want to kill gay people but they don’t want them to get married, which is basically the same thing. This is what we’re up against.
Thank god the young are making voting decisions based on incredibly important things, like sexual preference and birth control.