Over the past six months, I published a series about LGBT identity that investigates how common sexual and gender minorities are in the United States.
LGBT by the Numbers is a thorough and robust examination of the most common LGBT identities, which explores the terms people use to describe their sexuality and gender.
For the sake of convenience, I have compiled this Table of Contents for the 14 articles in the series.
The article names below are accompanied by symbols that represent the focus of each article.
Light bulbs represent articles that focus on ideas, concepts, and language.
Number signs represent articles that focus primarily on statistics and survey data.
Scales represent articles that focus primarily on law and public policy.
Articles with light bulbs and number signs focus on both ideas and numbers.
1. LGBT by the Numbers (Introduction)
I share my goals for the series, and why you should care about these topics. I also discuss how the series compliments my previous articles about LGBT identity.
2. The Big Picture [💡]
The Big Picture covers common terms and pride flags that represent the LGBT community as a whole. It also provides an overview of LGBT identities and how they relate to each other conceptually.
3. Sexual and Romantic Orientations [💡]
This article discusses the sexual and romantic orientations within LGBT community, including identities on the asexual and aromantic spectrums. It also features pride flags for various sexual and romantic identities.
4. Sexual Orientation in the United States [#]
This article discusses the percent of adults who identify as LGBT, based on Gallup’s survey of US adults in 2022. It covers the prevalence of specific LGBT identities and compares the prevalence of these identities across generations.
Gallup’s survey provides the prevalence statistics for bisexual, gay, and lesbian US adults that I use throughout this series.
5. Asexuality in the United States [#]
This article uses a research study to calculate a prevalence rate for asexual US adults. I reference this statistic throughout the series.
The article includes the results of the study’s survey of US adults, ages 18-70, regarding sexual orientation. The survey was conducted in 2020. The study constructed its question slightly differently than Gallup, providing an alternate way to conceptualize sexuality in the United States.
6. Gender Identity and Biological Sex [💡]
This article provides an introduction to terms related to transgender identity. It’s essentially transgender 101. The article includes a thorough discussion of nonbinary transgender identities, along with videos where nonbinary people share their experiences. I also feature and discuss associated pride flags. The article links to my previous coverage of related topics.
7. Intersex Experiences [💡,#]
This article discusses the experiences of intersex people, who have bodies that lie somewhere in between those traditionally considered male or female. The article features a wonderful Ted Talk by Intersex activist Emily Quinn.
I also discuss the results of a research paper, published in 2000, that surveyed the medical literature to determine the frequency of various intersex conditions. The study’s grand total for the frequency of intersex conditions is often cited by intersex advocates.
8. The fight for accurate identity documents [⚖️]
I discuss lawsuits filed by two US citizens who challenged passport gender marker policies. These lawsuits ultimately led the Biden administration to adopt policies that make it easier for transgender, nonbinary, and intersex Americans to obtain passport gender markers that match their identities. I link to my extensive previous coverage of these cases.
I also discuss state policies regarding gender markers for driver’s licenses.
9. Feedback on the Diagram [💡]
I discuss constructive feedback I received in response to social media posts I created to promote the articles in this series.
I also discuss an adjustment I made, in response to one of those comments, to a diagram representing the conceptual relationships between LGBT identities.
10. Gender Identity in the United States [#]
This article discusses the prevalence of transgender and nonbinary identity among US adults, based on a 2022 survey conducted by the Pew Research Center. Pew broke down its results for different age groups.
I use the results of surveys from Pew and Gallup to compare the prevalence of various LGBT identities among US adults.
11. How Nonbinary people describe themselves [💡,#]
I discuss the results of the Gender Census, an annual survey of nonbinary people, which provides data on the most common terms nonbinary people use to describe themselves.
I discuss what options businesses and organizations should provide people when asking about their gender. I also explain why I consider nonbinary people to be transgender.
12. Nonbinary Nomenclature, Continued [💡,#]
This is the second part of my analysis of the Gender Census, a survey of people whose gender falls outside the gender binary.
I discuss the nuances of several identity terms nonbinary people use to describe themselves. I also examine the two most common specific nonbinary identities — genderfluid and agender.
13. Thoughts on the acronym [💡,#]
I discuss
“LGBT” and its synonyms, while examining the strengths and weaknesses of each.
I provide a comprehensive breakdown of LGBTQIA, the long acronym, and I propose
an alternate version of it.
I also imagine what the acronym would look like if its letters were arranged based on how common each identity is among US adults.
14. How many Americans are LGBT? [#]
I use prevalence statistics and data from the US Census to estimate the number of US adults who hold various LGBT identities. I compare these figures to the sizes of the smallest racial minorities in the US and the populations of US states.
This year, Gallup and the Gender Census will likely release updated versions of polls referenced in this series.
I will probably examine those polls in articles for Meticulous Musings.
If I do, I will likely update this Table of Contents to include those future articles.
