More Americans Have Close Friend or Relative Who's GLBT
By the Editors of DiversityInc


© DiversityInc 2007 ®

Here's a simple truth: Many Americans have a close friend or family member who is gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender (GLBT). New research brings this point home and shows increasing support for GLBT rights.



For businesses, this means paying keen attention to being perceived as GLBT supportive in both the workplace and the marketplace. For more on how companies reach GLBT-friendly consumers, Subscribe Now to read the upcoming July/August issue of DiversityInc magazine.





A study released yesterday by the Pew Research Center finds that 41 percent of Americans say they have a close friend or family member who is gay (Pew's term, which includes all GLBT people). The poll of 2,007 randomly selected adults conducted from Dec. 12, 2006 to Jan. 9, 2007 found 41 percent of whites, 39 percent of blacks and 38 percent of Latinos said they had someone close to them who is gay. The poll did not break down race/ethnicity for Asians, Native Americans or Pacific Islanders.



Of those surveyed, 46 percent of those 18-29 reported having someone close to them who is gay, 45 percent of those 30 to 49, 42 percent of those 50 to 64, and 24 percent of those older than 65.



Why is this important? GLBT-friendly people are far more supportive of GLBT-friendly issues and companies known as being GLBT-friendly. The Pew survey proves this point. Those who say they have a family member or close friend who is gay are more than twice as likely (55 percent to 25 percent) to support gay marriage as those who don't. When asked if school boards should fire teachers who are GLBT, only 15 percent of those who have a gay person close to them say yes versus 38 percent of those who don't.



The openly GLBT population in this country is increasing as more people are willing to go public with their orientation. The Census Bureau found there were 15.3 million people (5.1 percent of the U.S. population), who said they were in same-sex households in 2006 and that is expected to increase to 16.3 million by 2011 . GLBT groups generally say that the number is about 10 percent of the population. GLBT buying power is expected to increase to grow from $660.2 billion in 2005 to $835.3 billion in 2011, a cumulative growth of 26.5 percent, according to research by Witeck-Combs Communications. Those figures do not include GBLT supporters, those people surveyed in the Pew study.



A 2006 Kaiser Family Foundation Survey found 64 percent of Americans report knowing a GLBT person. Research by Packaged Facts shows that 72 percent of straight employees think it is important to work for a company with a written non-discrimination policy that includes orientation, up from 63 percent in 2002.

All of The 2007 DiversityInc Top 50 Companies for Diversity® include orientation in their non-discrimination polices and offer domestic-partner benefits for same-sex couples.