LGBTQ+ Identification in U.S. Now at 7.6%

Wilshire@lemmy.world to News@lemmy.world – 222 points –
LGBTQ+ Identification in U.S. Now at 7.6%
news.gallup.com
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I skimmed the article and noticed that women are more likely to identify as LGBTQ+, and I wonder if that’s related to the fact that more and more men are becoming conservative, and women are becoming more liberal.

I know I wouldn’t have thought about queerness and my identity if I was conservative, I probably would have thought something silly like “Oh, it’s perfectly normal to be romantically attracted to some men, you eventually grow out of it” instead of asking myself “Am I bi?”

I probably would have also associated my discomfort with my own masculinity with something weird, or over-compensated to account for it.

Nah, it's just women are more likely to admit same sex attraction even if it's occasional.

For men regardless of political orientation, most men wouldn't act on it, and if they do they keep it a secret.

Women get less judgement for it.

So it makes sense men would be underrepresented in surveys.

You see it in professional sport. Lots of openly lesbian women in pro soccer teams. Only one or two notably out of the closet gay active pro soccer players in the world.

I think that's a selection, bias, though. I'd bet more gay women tend to play sports like soccer or softball than gay men go to play football or baseball.

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“Oh, it’s perfectly normal to be romantically attracted to some men, you eventually grow out of it”

Why do you think so many conservatives believe it's a choice? They think that everyone has to repress it like they do.

I suspect it's just an increase of reporting and decrease of self-denial. When you lift the taboo penalties the rates go up because people are less afraid to admit it to both themselves and others. Whenever you hear some country saying there are no gay people there, it's because the gay people who definitely live there are so terrified that they will not only keep their mouths shut, but live in denial so hard they might even believe they're doing the right thing.

You just described it perfectly. I grew up in a conservative household and those were the exact thoughts I ended up internalizing for nearly 35 years.

I have an amazing life now, so I wouldn't want anything to change, but damn if I wouldn't have made some different decisions growing up if I had realized I was bi.

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