The nation's capital has the highest
percentage of self-identified LGBT residents, while North Dakota has
the lowest.
According to a
Gallup survey released on Friday, ten percent of D.C. residents
identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender. The lowest
percentage was found in North Dakota, where only 1.7 percent of
respondents said they identify as LGBT.
Pollsters asked more than 200,000
people over the last year if they “personally identify” as LGBT.
Gallup warned that “Measuring sexual
orientation and gender identity can be challenging because these
concepts involve social and cultural patterns.”
“Gallup chose a broad measure of
personal identification as LGBT because this grouping of four
statuses is commonly used in current American discourse, and as a
result has important cultural and political significance.”
Pollsters added that there was a
correlation between the number of people willing to self-identify as
LGBT and the state's political climate on gay rights.
“With the exception of South Dakota,
all of the states that have LGBT populations of at least 4% have laws
that prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender
identity and allow same-sex couples to marry, enter into a civil
union, or register as domestic partners. Of the 10 states with the
lowest percentage of LGBT adults, only Iowa has such laws.”