Poll: 3.2 Percent of Americans are LGBT

As many as 3.2 percent of Americans identify as being LGBT, says a new Gallup poll released this week. The results are based on a series of 121,290 interviews conducted between June 1 and Sept. 30 of this year, making it one of the largest surveys of its kind on the issue. And what the poll finds may surprise people – not to mention buck a few commonly held stereotypes.

Other highlights from the poll:

-Non-white people are more likely to identify as LGBT, including African-Americans (4.6 percent), Asians (4.3 percent) and Latinos (4 percent).

-Forty-four percent of the LGBT population surveyed identifies as Democrat, 13 percent are Republican and 43 percent are independent.

-Women are also more likely to identify as LGBT (3.6 percent) compared to men (3.3 percent). They are also as likely as heterosexual women to be raising children.

-And younger Americans between the ages of 19 and 29 are also more likely to say they’re LGBT – 8.3 percent of women and 4.6 percent of men.

-LGBT Americans also have the lowest level of education, including 3.5 percent with a high school diploma or less, 2.8 percent with a college degree and 3.2 percent with postgraduate education.

-And more than 5 percent have incomes less than 24,000 per year (only about 2.8 percent make $60,000 or more).

-Thirteen percent are in a domestic partnership or living with a partner while 7 percent are single and have never been married. Those who are currently married account for 1.3 percent.