re: Americans think 23 percent of people are gay

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I think its not so much that people are fooled into vastly overestimating the gay population so much as that people are really stupid and bad at math

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Exactly. Percentages and fractions just blow the minds of a lot of people out there.

I know a lot of people and I can only think of about ten open gays I "know." I don't have any gay friends and I don't think I associate with any on a daily/weekly basis.

I would personally think that around 1% or slightly less were truly gay with another 2 or 3% doing it for the fad or to have a cause to fight.

The reason people think that it is 1 out of 4 is because there is a gay person on every tv show these days for the sake of diversity and most main casts are about 4 to 6 people.

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I'd be shocked if anyone actually believes that 1 in 4 Americans are gay. I think its not so much that people are fooled into vastly overestimating the gay population so much as that people are really stupid and bad at math. Even though "What percentage of the US population is gay?" and "If 10 Americans were selected at random, how many of the 10 do you think are gay?" are asking for the exact same thing, I think phrasing it the second way would result in a % much closer to the actual number.

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I believe it. The question is; what exactly is the criteria of defining it? In my opinion most the gay people are in denial about it and looking for , married too, living with, dating, members of the opposite sex because that's what their parents, or society in general raised them to do. I would venture to guess based on personal experience, 50% of all men I've crossed paths with in life, albeit something as simple as at the grocery store or gas station that I never even speak too, would suck my dick if given a chance if they knew no one ever found out about it, and when it was over they could tell themselves it never happened. Granted I'm strikingly handsome and well built. But I know that look when I receive it.

Having said that, I'm quite certain the percentage would be much lower if you started talking about going further in a random encounter than just dick sucking. So is a married man that's attracted to another man enough to place his pecker in his mouth "gay?" I don't know. Certainly people of the same gender that wouldn't ever admit to being sexually attracted could become sexually attracted for numerous reasons. When you analyze a survey like that you have to know, what was the criteria for defining gay? It could be only 1 out of 20 ever openly admit it. Another 4 out of 20 my know but keep it in the closet. Another 4 out of 20 may live in denial about it. I would imagine the majority of the population has fantasized to some degree about it even if they erased the thought as it was entering their thought process.

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I would venture to guess based on personal experience, 50% of all men I've crossed paths with in life, albeit something as simple as at the grocery store or gas station that I never even speak too, would suck my dick if given a chance if they knew no one ever found out about it, and when it was over they could tell themselves it never happened.

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You're one of these guys--disconnected from reality--aren't you?

Well, according to America's entertainment industry that 23% number seems low.

If someone from another country who was unfamiliar with America watched our programming (TV shows, talk shows, reality shows, award shows, movies, etc.), they would likely assume something like 40-50% of Americans are gay, lesbian, or transgender.

So 1 in 5 people are gay? I think that is a somewhat accurate. Is there anyone on this board who doesn't know one person who is gay? Actually I think it might be a little bit lower than 23%, but I would like to know how many gay people out there who are gay but refuses to accept it?

95% of the men who are alive in America right now are giant queers, so I believe it.

If I recall, the 2000 census had it at 0.06%. Don't know if that included the closets.