Point: Oregon is the queerest state. Counterpoint: No.
The US is queerer than ever as more people identify as part of the LGBTQ+ community, and a new study has figured out America's gayest state.
Pink News published an article on Monday (12/11) regaling us with the promise of "new data released by the UCLA's Williams Institute." New data! Queer reveals! Shocking results! The data in question was from the 2020-2021 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS). It was at this point that we here at Dumb CDC lowered our champagne glasses. Since 2014, BRFSS has been the nationally-representative survey doing the "best" job of counting LGBTQ+ adults in the US. The survey is administered over the phone, and allows LGBTQ+ respondents to self-identify as a sexual minority and/or gender minority when answering the following 2 questions:
MSOGI.01a Q. Which of the following best represents how you think of yourself? 1 = Gay 2 = Straight, that is, not gay 3 = Bisexual 4 = Something else 7 = I don't know the answer 9 = Refused MSOGI.02 Q. Do you consider yourself to be transgender? 1 = Yes, Transgender, male-to-female 2 = Yes, Transgender, female-to-male 3 = Yes, Transgender, gender nonconforming 4 = No 7 = Don't know/not sure 9 = Refused
For me, it is with great pride to be counted as a Something else, Don't know/not sure -American 🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️ #lovewins The use of these 2 questions is optional and not used by all states. In 2021, only 34 states asked these questions to count their LGBTQ+ residents.
In 2020, the Census Bureau deployed the Household Pulse Survey (Pulse) to collect household data during the COVID-19 pandemic. This nationally-representative survey is nimble, administered online, and systematically collects data on who is LGBTQ+ at the state level. How? Pulse asks sexual orientation and gender identity questions as core demographic questions that every single respondent answers.
D6 Q. What sex were you assigned at birth, on your original birth certificate? 1 = Male 2 = Female D7_alt Q. How do you currently describe yourself? Select all that apply. 1 = Male 2 = Female 3 = Transgender 4 = Nonbinary 5 = I use a different term _________ D9_original Q. Which of the following best represents how you think of yourself? 1 = Gay or lesbian 2 = Straight, that is not gay or lesbian 3 = Bisexual 4 = Something else 5 = I don't know
These questions may not seem a whole lot better or more intuitive... but the vastly-improved data coverage makes Pulse our problematic fave for state-level and nationally-representative LGBTQ+ data.
Now let's compare how the 2021 BRFSS and 2021 Pulse surveys counted LGBTQ+ adults in the US.
2021 BRFSS data reported 7.4% of respondents as sexual minorities and 0.8% of respondents as gender minorities. 2021 Pulse data reported 9.3% of respondents as sexual minorities and 2.6% as gender minorities. Converting these numbers to population estimates, Pulse data approximates that nearly 20 million adults in the United States self-identify as LGBTQ+, whereas 2021 BRFSS data estimates only 9 million.
This suggests that the US has been undercounting its LGBTQ+ population by possibly over 50% since 2014, and deploying public health resources, activities, and policies from this deeply inadequate data.
You could even say this violates the Belmont Report’s 3 ethical principles of human subjects research: a) respect for persons, b) beneficence, and c) justice. Really, you could say this.
What matters is that 2021 Pulse data found that LGBTQ+ people reside in every state and zip code. The highest numbers are in these 10 states: Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Texas. It is worth noting that 4 of these states did not collect LGBTQ+ data through the BRFSS that same year.
In sum: We're here. We're queer. We're everywhere.
And new data methods prove that we are very much so in rural areas and red states outside of the Soviet Republic of Pelosistan (FKA San Francisco). Just don't say Oregon. Resources:
Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System documentation. here
Household Pulse Survey documentation. here
Human Rights Campaign (2021). We Are Here: LGBTQ+ Adult Population in United States Reaches At Least 20 Million, According to Human Rights Campaign Foundation Report. here
Brookings Institute (2023). LGBTQ+ Data Availability: What We Can Learn From Four Major Surveys. here
Office of the Chief Statistician of the United States (2023). Recommendations on the Best Practices for the Collection of Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Data on Federal Statistical Surveys. here
The Fenway Institute (2019). The Nuts and Bolts of SOGI Data Implementation: A Troubleshooting Toolkit. here
