What is the opinion of global society towards being gay in America, how does America see LGBT population and which the gayest states in America in 2018 are? Let’s see some facts and statistics here.
The population of LGBT individuals in America is around 3.8%, which is around 9 million people (of which 1.8% identify as bisexual, 1.7% gay/lesbian, according to the research done in 2011), comparing to Europe where around 6% of the population identifies as gay. Europe also seems to be the most gay-friendly and the people in European countries feel more comfortable to “get out the closet.”
As we have discussed before in some of our previous articles, the percentage of the gay population in the world is more or less the same, being 3-5% of the whole population. But statistics and surveys often show very variable figures on this matter. That is because sexual orientation in some countries is still a taboo and many societies are not opened towards gay and non-hetero individuals. So, results of surveys and researches are highly influenced by the society (and for more information on this, check out 15 Gayest Countries in the World Per Capita). So, as a result of this, you might notice that all the most gay-friendly and the countries with the largest gay populations are those wealthy, open-minded, and more or less secular countries, which you might also check at 10 Countries with the Biggest Gay Population in the World.
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But let’s get back on the issue of gayest states in America. Maybe we should first check what is the gayest city in the United States. On this matter, we have already done research, which you can check out at Top 10 Gayest Cities in America. Here we see all the major urban busy nightlife cities like San Francisco, New York, Boston, Los Angeles, etc., (but interestingly among the top 10 is not Atlanta, the gayest city in the Gay South). Although these metropolitan areas have large gay communities, gay places, events, etc., what about peaceful family life for LGBT couples far from the big city hustle? For that, you might be interested in some of the gayest small towns in America. According to the Advocate, some of those gayest small towns include Bloomington, Ind., Ashville, N.C, and Portland, Maine for example.
Interestingly, the gayest city in the world per capita is probably Tel Aviv, with around 10% of the population being gay. But not only it is the gayest city, but it is also one of the major gay-friendly cities in the world, and also the place with the most massive and the best Pride (2017 Tel Aviv Pride had around 200,000 participants, of which 30,000 foreign visitors). Tel Aviv has also been voted with convincing 43% of the vote on competition for the best destination for gay travelers, beating both New York (with only 14%) and Toronto (7%).
We wanted to make our research about the gayest states in America in 2018 uniform in terms of methodology and data, and that is why we have used the data of the Williams Institute UCLA School of Law research on LGBT Demographics. This research is one of the most reliable ones, with strict methodology and research goals. Here we have found statistical information on LGBT proportion of the population for each state, as well as other useful information, like percentage of gay couples with children, LGBT gender ratio, age distribution, socioeconomic status (employment, education), etc. For our list, we have used statistics of population percentage, and that is the criteria on which we have based our rankings. Although the data published dates at 2016, we have also gone through some earlier statistics made by other surveys to see that the situation now in 2018 is more or less the same concerning the gayest states in America.
Many American states seem to work in a good way towards the well-being of LGBT communities, though this process takes more time sometimes. The awareness of social integration and acceptance of LGBT community has been a hot topic and a taboo as well since the 50s and 60s, following the global socio-political movements concerning human rights – hippie movement, anti-Vietnam War movement, etc. After that, around 70s and onwards, many states have repealed the criminalization of same-sex sexual activities, which lead to opening new opportunities for incorporating LGBT community in society and accepting homosexuality as a part of a normal life. So, as the time went on gays were given more and more rights, including adoption, healthcare, and all the rights that heterosexual couples and individuals have. The question of same-sex marriage though is still somewhat a tough subject it seems, though it has been legalized in all states in recent years. Most of the states have legalized same-sex marriage only in the recent decade.
So, now when we have gone through this introduction and overview of issues concerning this gentle subject, let’s pass on to the gayest states in America in 2018.
10. Delaware
LGBT percentage: 4.2
Delaware has become one of the first states to ban the “conversion therapy” in the US in April 2017. Same-sex marriage in Delaware was legalized in 2013, as previous polling didn’t go well on this question. And even though, it is among the gayest states in America, some cities in Delaware show not to be the most gay-friendly and LGBT oriented, a study has shown.
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And now, let’s see the next two gayest states in America in 2018 which share the 8th place on our list.
