The Williams Institute has been surveying the American gay/lesbian population for a decade now and has just issued 10 research facts that I thought would be good to pass on to the Daily Kos community.
Please follow me after the squiggly-thingie to get to the facts
1)
9 million LGBT people live in the U.S., 3.8 % of the adult population
2)
1 in 4 are people of color and same-sex couples have identified themselves on the Census in 99% of U.S. counties
3)
1 in 5 same-sex couples (are raising children) and 6% of children in foster care are being raised by LGB people
4)
in the Armed Forces: 71,000 are currently serving, and there are over 1 million LGB veterans in the U.S
5)
70,000 same-sex couples have gotten married in the U.S.; another 90,000 have entered into civil unions and domestic partnerships.
6)
The annual divorce rate for same-sex couples and different-sex married couples is similar — about 2%.
7)
Gay men earn 10% to 23% less, on average, than heterosexual men. Children of same-sex couples are twice as likely to live in poverty
8)
Rates of hate crimes and employment discrimination against LGBT people are similar to or higher than for other protected groups.
9)
"Don't ask, don't tell" has cost taxpayers over $500 million since it started being enforced in 1994.
10)
If all 50 states and the federal government recognized marriage for same-sex couples, the federal budget would benefit by over $1 billion each year.
The numbers I find most interesting are points 6 and 7, since they turn homophobic arguments on their head.
If the rates of divorce are similar between gays/straights how would gay marriage destroy straight marriage? How does this hold with the whole "gays are too promiscuous" lie? Of course it doesn't. Gays in committed relationships should have every same right as heterosexuals to enter into marriage.
One of the most widely accepted untruths of the gay population is how much better off $ compared to heterosexuals. This myth has hurt us in many ways and has been refuted yet again showing that on average we're worse off economically.
To read more reports here is the Williams Institute to rely on facts and data, instead of homophobic/heterosexist untruths about the real LGBT population.