Amusing myself with statistics

Concrete data about the gay population in the US is hard to come by. The 10% figure goes all the way back to Kinsey, and very little research about it has been done since. The numbers trotted out most often these days come from a study done in 1994 which has seriously flawed methodology, including sample bias, and the unbelievable practice of asking respondents about their sexual history when other family members were present. However, even this study puts the population at 4.2% which is a fairly high number-- 11,819,720 people.

Comparing a few things, that 4.2% is higher than the entire US population of all non-white racial categories except African-American and Hispanic. (roughly 12.5% each)

It is also higher than the percentage of all religious groups in the US with exception of Catholics and Southern Baptists (22 and 7% of the population, respectively.)

It is also greater than the percentage of people over the age of 65.

It is greater than the population of all but 6 states: California, Illinois, Florida, New York, Pennsylvania and Texas.