Fed Report: Gays, lesbians more likely to abuse alcohol, smoke, less than 2% of population is Gay

14 Jul, 2014 by Samuel Gonzalez

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No wonder they act buck wild at Pride parades! Also, contrary to the perception of many, Gays are a very small minority.

Gay, lesbian and bisexual adults are likelier to smoke and be heavy drinkers compared with heterosexuals, but all groups are likely to report being in “excellent” or “very good” health and have access to health care, says a first-of-its-kind federal report released Tuesday reports Washington Times.

The findings, based on answers from more than 34,000 adults, reveal that 1.6 percent of the population is gay or lesbian, 0.7 percent is bisexual, and 97.7 percent is heterosexual.

The study is intended to help the federal government understand and promote health behaviors and well-being in all populations, including sexual minorities, as part of its Healthy People 2020 goals, said health statistician Brian W. Ward and his colleagues at the National Center for Health Statistics, which released the new report.

But the government has struggled to first define sexual orientation in a survey and then collect enough answers “to permit meaningful analyses,” they wrote.

In 2013, researchers added some sexual orientation questions to the National Health Interview Survey, a decades-old survey that is conducted year-round and in person with trained interviewers.
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