Americans think gay population is 735% higher than it is, Gallup finds
WASHINGTON, D.C., October 19, 2012, (Family Research Center)—When a Gallup poll asked people to estimate how many Americans were homosexual in 2011, most guessed 25 percent. Turns out, they were about 22 percent off. The actual number, Gallup reported Thursday, is about 3.4 percent—a startling statistic for most people who just naturally assumed the media saturation was driven by a big population.
Who can blame them? These numbers should be shocking to anyone who’s lived through the deluge of gay and lesbian policy, entertainment, school curriculum, and corporate capitulation of the past 10 years.
According to Gallup, this survey is the largest single study of the U.S. LGBT population ever conducted. Over four months, Gallup canvassed the country by phone, interviewing more than 121,000 people. The results were based on answers to this question, “Do you, personally, identify as a lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender?” Although surveys like this one can be tricky—pollsters are never sure how many people are truly candid—the numbers are consistent with FRC’s research and other experts’. Just last year, the Department of Health and Human Services released a similar figure of 3.8 percent. In this instance, the biggest concentrations of LGBT were young adults (6.4 percent), women (3.6 percent), and young women (8.3 percent).
Although the homosexual community may not be the largest in the U.S., it’s certainly the loudest. That might explain the major disconnect between the media’s portrayal and reality.
Just last month, liberals celebrated a record number of homosexual and cross-dressing characters on TV, which is somewhat ironic today, considering the sliver of the population they represent. For years, these 3.4 percent have seemed to enjoy 100 percent accommodation. As a community, they’ve gone out of their way to demand special treatment, even trampling the freedom and values of the other 97 percent to secure it.
This may be a tiny fraction of the population, but they are quite literally rewriting history. Imagine what the world would look like if Christians lived out the Great Commission with this same kind of intensity. We certainly wouldn’t be debating the definition of marriage or the sanctity of human life. In the midst of these social debates, this is a teachable moment. If there’s one thing the homosexual community demonstrates again and again, it’s that a loud minority is more powerful than a timid majority.
If Christians in America would simply stand, unapologetically, and speak the truth in love, there is no limit to the renewal we could experience as a nation.
It’s time to look beyond the cultural breakdown and recognize that the catalyst for transformational change is us!
Reprinted from the Family Research Center.
