How Many Queers, Did You Say?

Which of these men represents the gay 1.7 percent of the population of Dallas?

Okay guys, there's lots of loose chatter going on about the new report from the Williams Institute on the number of LGBT Americans.  And much of the chatter is being slung around by people who have never read the frickin' report.

Don't you be that dumb.  Here is a link to the 6-page PDF report itself, which contains lots of stats and charts.  Read it for yourself, bro - don't let other people tell you what it says.

And here's the institute's own summary of its findings:

Drawing on information from four recent national and two state-level population-based surveys, the analyses suggest that there are more than 8 million adults in the US who are lesbian, gay, or bisexual, comprising 3.5% of the adult population. There are also nearly 700,000 transgender individuals in the US. In total, the study suggests that approximately 9 million Americans - roughly the population of New Jersey - identify as LGBT. Key findings from the study include among adults who identify as lesbian, gay, or bisexual, bisexuals comprise a slight majority (1.8% compared to 1.7% who identify as lesbian or gay); women are substantially more likely than men to identify as bisexual; estimates of those who report any lifetime same-sex sexual behavior and any same-sex sexual attraction are substantially higher than estimates of those who identify as lesbian, gay, or bisexual. An estimated 19 million Americans (8.2%) report that they have engaged in same-sex sexual behavior and nearly 25.6 million Americans (11%) acknowledge at least some same-sex sexual attraction.

Also important to note:

• This is a survey of surveys, so to speak.  It's not a direct count.  It's a statistical best-guess of how many adults fall on this side of the rainbow - like so many other estimates in this world, it's playing with numbers, on a very high level of math - but not a direct count.  And the numbers given above totally ignore the thought that people under 18 also have an innate sexuality - as if nobody is "born that way," ya know?
• A lot of news stories on this topic are making reference to the Kinsey Report of 1948, which allegedly said that 10 perecent of men were homosexual.  But that's not what Kinsey said.  Read up on that too, and be informed.
• The Williams Institute is not a right-wing think tank, as some ignorant commenters have said.  It's part of the UCLA School of Law, and has published many, many reports on LGBT people.   For example, at the bottom of their homepage, you can find a clickable map with detailed demographics on gay couples in all 50 states, along with many other interesting reports.

And finally, I'll say this:  your Head Trucker is no mathematician, but some 15 years ago when I was living in a small city back east, I did a thought experiment - considering that the maximum number of guys who showed up at the bar on a big night probably represented only one out of ten or twenty gay men in the area, divide that number by the adult population - which gave me a figure of 2 or 3 percent gay.  Of course, that doesn't take into account closeted guys and all the other flavors of the rainbow. 

But it does explain why gay society is like a small town everywhere you go.  Even in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the country at 6.3 million, bigger than Connecticut and Rhode Island combined - yet in the gay community, you always find people who know somebody you know.  So we're not that big a chunk of the population.   (Pity.)

Bottom line:  When you consider all the pyschological and social complexities of fear and loathing, married bisexuals and closeted singles, transthis and transthat, late bloomers and liars and simple souls who really haven't a clue - nobody but God knows exactly how many gays there are in the world.   But before you get into a discussion on this point, at least be up to date on the facts.  I've made it easy for you here, so you got no excuse now, fellas.

Please Remain Seated until the Aircraft Comes to a Complete Stop

There's a lot of premature ejaculation celebration going on over the Prop 8 ruling, seems to me like.

But guys, I'll bet you a hundred dollars there will be no gay marriages in California next week.  Or the week after.  Or for several years more.

If the Ninth Circuit doesn't issue a stay, then the Supreme Court surely will.  This is just too big a fucking deal to be decided for good and all by one district judge, and that's just the reality of things - and that is, I have no doubt, exactly the way the Supremes will see it.  It's a big, hairy Constitutional matter with major longterm ramifications on lots of things you may not have thought of yet - things that have nothing to do with marriage at all - not some small-town ordinance against jaywalking or whatever, ya know?  They may rule for us or against us, but they will have their say before the dust settles, sure as shootin'.

So - hold your hosses, boys, not your breath.  This ain't over yet, not by a long shot.

When it is, I'll bring the champagne and we'll all have a helluva great party.  But not before.

It's Congress, Bitches

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Okay so thanks to Americablog Gay, for the benefit of the many who seem not to have actually read the thing, here is the actual goddamn text of the amendment that was passed by the House yesterday, 234-194, and which assorted I'm-too-fucking-liberal-for-my-shirt bloggers are losing their shit about, and Dan Choi - who I've admired up till now - is going on a hunger strike to protest:

dadtlanguage

It's awful late here in Texas and I'm late for the bed as it is, so I'll keep my rant short.  But the thing is, guys, this is like totally major fucking progress.  And anybody who doesn't think so needs their silly ass kicked hard by a great big army boot.

The military needs to do their study and will do their study before any fucking thing changes.  Hell, babies, the military doesn't send out for morning coffee without doing a 10-page Needs Assessment.  In quadruplicate.  Anal retentive?  Constipated as hell?  Sure, but that's the reality of the military, and nobody in this universe is ever going to wave a magic wand and have it happen any differently.

When Truman - a man with great big balls and not afraid to make tough decisions - ordered the Armed Forces to desegregate in 1948, the last desegregated units were not phased out until 1954 - six years later.

So I say, patience all around is what the world needs now, not tantrums.  It's not immediate repeal, but if the Senate passes the measure and the President signs it into law, it will make repeal the officially stated goal and policy of the United States Government.  Is that so bad?  Really?

So be happy, bitches, and get over your right-now-this-minute mad.  It's not helping.

And BTW have you really and truly forgotten that just a year and a half ago we were all living in the dark, stinking night of the Bush regime?  Have you forgotten how utterly hopeless today's vote was in that long eight years of Republican rule?  Do you also understand there's a midterm election in November, and the Republicans may well regain control of one or both houses of Congress?  And just what in the hell do you think will happen to all the gay-rights legislation then, hmm? 

Wake up and smell the latte before history runs right over your heads, people.