Overestimating homosexuality

A Gallup poll shows that U.S. adults, on average, estimate that 25% of Americans are gay or lesbian. More specifically, 52% estimate that at least one in five Americans are gay or lesbian, including 35% who estimate that more than one in four are. Only 30% put the figure at less than 15%. Recently, demographer Gary Gates released a review of population-based surveys on the topic, estimating that 3.5% of adults in the United States identify as lesbian, gay, or bisexual, with bisexuals making up a slight majority of that figure. Gates disputes the claim that 10% of the males are more or less exclusively homosexual. Americans with lower incomes and less education give the highest estimates, on average, of the U.S. gay and lesbian population, and far higher estimates than those with higher incomes and more education. Americans aged 18 to 29 give a higher average estimate than older Americans, and women give a far higher average estimate than men. The data shows that 53% of people making under $30,000 annually believe that at least 25% of the population was gay, and 47% of those with no more than a high school education.