One in 10 adults in Washington, D.C., identify as LGBT — the highest percentage in the U.S., according to the largest population-based survey ever to ask the question.
North Dakota recorded the lowest percentage of LGBT people, at 1.7 percent, according to the study by the Williams Institute at UCLA and Gallup.
Most states were within 2 percentage points of the nationwide average of 3.5 percent, based on the survey of more than 206,000 adult Americans.
Texas, at 3.3 percent, was sandwiched between North Carolina and Louisiana at No. 32 on the list, based on surveys of 13,314 people in the Lone Star State. From the press release:
While LGBT communities are clearly present in every state in the union, their visibility is generally higher in states with greater levels of social acceptance and LGBT supportive legal climates, according to the new study.
Gates said of the study, “These new first-of-their-kind estimates of the percentage of adults who self-identify as LGBT in all 50 states and the District of Columbia constitute a significant advancement in our understanding of the LGBT population.” More than 206,000 adult Americans were surveyed for this study so that 41 of the 50 states have underlying samples exceeding 1,000.
The study found that states with proportionally larger LGBT populations tend to have supportive LGBT legal climates. With the exception of South Dakota, each of the states with populations 4 percent and over has laws prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. These states have also taken steps toward more LBGT equality by recognizing same-sex marriages, civil unions, or domestic partnerships. Iowa is the only state among those with the lowest LGBT populations to extend similar rights. In fact, six of the ten states with the lowest LGBT populations are among the most conservative states in the country.
