Gallup poll shows that one in four Americans not gay

As Gay rights movements continue to disrupt society and political life, poll reveals that gay and lesbians are not as common in the United States as previously perceived.

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - A new Gallup poll conducted in early May has revealed that most Americans believe there may be six times as many gay and lesbians in the U.S. than there actually are, at 23.2 percent.

However, an earlier poll conducted in the beginning of 2015 shows that just 3.8 percent of the adult population in the U.S. identifies as gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender.

Of those surveyed, only nine percent said they thought that less than five percent of the population is gay, while 33 percent said they thought more than 25 percent of the population was gay.

"Americans perceive that more than one in five Americans are gay or lesbian, far greater than the actual rate as measured by self-reports on Gallup Daily tracking," said Frank Newport who analyzes Gallup's survey data.

"Some of the overestimation may reflect Americans' lack of knowledge about social statistics and demography, which is supported by Americans' historical tendency to overestimate the prevalence of other subgroups in the U.S. population," Newport Said. "The overestimation may also reflect prominent media portrayals of gay characters on television and in movies, even as far back as 2002, and perhaps the high visibility of activists who have pushed gay causes, particularly legalizing same-sex marriage."

Not surprisingly the poll showed that it is younger Americans who are more likely to estimate a higher number of gay or lesbian Americans, while people who were 65 or older averaged estimates of 20 percent of the population being gay, while those between the ages of 18 to 29 had estimates in the high 20s. Those Americans traditionally in the middle age bracket were more likely to have a lower estimate of the number of gays or lesbians, closer to the actual average.

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