Percentage of homosexual women

submitted by Elvira95 from self.Lesbians

What do you think is the real percentage of homosexual women in population? I come to believe is 1 percent. There is a lot of women who are bi, but tend to date and prefer men, but the real dating pool of women prefering women is quite small and in USA seem like getting smaller because of gender identity pushing some lesbians to transition.

all 30 comments
sorted by:
top
newinsightfulfun

[–]_Moon_ 20 insightful - 1 fun20 insightful - 0 fun21 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

Somewhere between 1-5%.

The overwhelming majority of women are either heterosexual or "queer" - and that always includes men in some form or the other. Even the pushback against transgenderism isn't even coming from lesbians predominantly but a) from grayhaired radfem boomers who are often married to males, and b) from women who call themselves "gender critical" although they often oppose transgenderism for all the wrong reasons (e.g. married boymom housewives who love their "masculine" men but find "unmasculine" men creepy, who hate bisexual men but love heterosexual men, etc.)

In the grand scheme of things, most women opposing transgenderism oppose it for all the wrong reasons. And this definitely includes "gender critical" women.

The percentage of women who are exclusively attracted to women is very, very small. And this is definitely part of the reason why the TQ+ crowd could so easily colonize all the former LGB spaces.

At the very least is the number of pornsick men, pornsick women, and special snowflake tumblrinas who are not like all the other girls (and therefore need to give themselves some BS label before crawling back to their Daddydom) much, much, much higher than the number of lesbian women and the number of women who are simply sick and tired of men.

[–]DifferentAirGC 13 insightful - 1 fun13 insightful - 0 fun14 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Even the pushback against transgenderism isn't even coming from lesbians predominantly

Because we are the minority compared to het/bi women and because we have more to lose. For some of us, LGBT spaces are the only place we can find support and other people like us, even if it's not perfect, and speaking against the trans cult will get us kicked and ostracized by said spaces.

[–]Elvira95[S] 12 insightful - 1 fun12 insightful - 0 fun13 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Yeah, but I think 5 percent is too high. More like 1 percent. You get higher percent if you add bi with strong female attraction. But exclusive homosexuality is really rare.

[–]TransspeciesUnicorn 15 insightful - 2 fun15 insightful - 1 fun16 insightful - 2 fun -  (0 children)

I feel like it's just too hard to say because there's no objective way to determine sexual orientation. Data collection is all going to be based on self-report, and a lot of the researchers are probably biased to begin with.

How many homosexual people just never come out of the closet, out of fear or not wanting to deal with stigma, or because they want kids? How many lesbians maybe just stay with their bf/husband because they think it's normal for women to not enjoy sex much? Like I remember reading some stat that only 6% or so of straight women regularly orgasm from straight sex. That just seems really strangely low to me.

[–]homosomes 15 insightful - 1 fun15 insightful - 0 fun16 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

I agree that it's a very small percentage. Not less than 1%, but nowhere near the double digits. The vast majority of women are either heterosexual or bisexual, while lesbians make up the rest.

Getting accurate numbers is hard though when numbers are based on self-disclosure. So many non-lesbians call themselves lesbians while so many actual homosexual women are calling themselves literally anything but lesbian.

[–]reader 14 insightful - 3 fun14 insightful - 2 fun15 insightful - 3 fun -  (1 child)

We will not know for sure, not until sexual orientation become neutral trait. Right now people lie to others and themselves even in western countries with same sex marriages. This social element is visible in how numbers change with age and time. Someone accurate numbers will be accessible in several decades at best. There will be some data about same sex couples living together officially, but after all this mess with definition of sex, male, female will be sorted out.

[–]VioletRemi 15 insightful - 2 fun15 insightful - 1 fun16 insightful - 2 fun -  (0 children)

This.

Previously people were afraid to come out. Now transes can "come out" as wrong sexuality, so numbers would not be correct.

When homophobia will be gone OR there will be scientific physical way to determine sexuality, only then we can say correctly.

[–]Athelhilda2 14 insightful - 1 fun14 insightful - 0 fun15 insightful - 1 fun -  (3 children)

If only a small percentage of the population is lesbian, I wonder why it seems that the gay male population seems so much larger? Are a lot of lesbians deep in the closet and in denial, or is there some sort of evolutionary trait that makes women less likely to be homosexual?

[–]Elvira95[S] 9 insightful - 1 fun9 insightful - 0 fun10 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

If its true that homosexuality come from testosterone in womb. I think is more likely for a fetus to get less testoertone, than for a female fetus to get more.

[–]divingrightintowork 8 insightful - 2 fun8 insightful - 1 fun9 insightful - 2 fun -  (0 children)

I think gay men are a lot more visible by and large, historically in no small part because they are more likely to have money and income. More so than woman, they're also men, they are as vulnerable broadly speaking to live their true selves.

Also they're just more likely to want to party and be out and about, lesbians do you like these things, but not necessarily into the same depth as men.

[–]Lizzythelezzo 4 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 0 fun5 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

I suspect a lot of "gay" men are actually bisexuals, but a lot of straight women won't date bi men so it's easier to just identify as gay. Society also tends to assume bi men are on the way to full homosexuality anyway, so it's easy for them to internalise that.

[–]VioletRemi 13 insightful - 2 fun13 insightful - 1 fun14 insightful - 2 fun -  (7 children)

In study I've read, which was studying homosexuality in all mammals, mostly in primates (except Bonobo monkeys, as those seems to be majority bisexual), it was counted as around 1.5-2% of population is homosexual and around 5-10% is bisexual, depending on species. And the better species are living and more overpopulated - the more bisexual and slightly more homosexual percentage there is. It should be something similar to humanity.

[–]Elvira95[S] 7 insightful - 1 fun7 insightful - 0 fun8 insightful - 1 fun -  (6 children)

Bisexuality is way more common. It makes sense. Homosexuality makes no sense physically

[–]zephyranthes 5 insightful - 1 fun5 insightful - 0 fun6 insightful - 1 fun -  (5 children)

Why?

[–]Elvira95[S] 6 insightful - 2 fun6 insightful - 1 fun7 insightful - 2 fun -  (4 children)

Genitalia are made to meet with opposite sex

[–]VioletRemi 11 insightful - 11 fun11 insightful - 10 fun12 insightful - 11 fun -  (3 children)

Can't say that about clitoris, tho ;)

[–]Elvira95[S] 11 insightful - 11 fun11 insightful - 10 fun12 insightful - 11 fun -  (2 children)

My clitoris is made to meet with yours ;)

[–]VioletRemi 6 insightful - 7 fun6 insightful - 6 fun7 insightful - 7 fun -  (1 child)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZhIsAZO5gl0

[–]Elvira95[S] 6 insightful - 7 fun6 insightful - 6 fun7 insightful - 7 fun -  (0 children)

LMAO

[–]EzukiRaen 12 insightful - 1 fun12 insightful - 0 fun13 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

I'd wager it's around 1% or even less.

There was a study done in the US in 2015 by news.gallup.com which found that approximately 3.8% of the adult population is lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender. I'm not entirely certain on the statistic for lesbians specifically but, if we subtract the trans population (I've seen numbers ranging between 0.42% and 1.2%) then we're left with somewhere between 2.6% and 3.38% of the population being either lesbian, gay, or bi.

However, Gallup did another study in 2017 and found the LGBT population increased to 4.5%. I'm more wary of this stat becuse it also shows that young women and democrats are the ones identifying with the community more and it's unclear as to why. The steady rise could be because people feel safe and comfortable with who they are or it could be from woke brain washing.

[–]Elvira95[S] 9 insightful - 2 fun9 insightful - 1 fun10 insightful - 2 fun -  (0 children)

Yeah.. I agree. Really rare as fuck

[–]HelloMomo 9 insightful - 2 fun9 insightful - 1 fun10 insightful - 2 fun -  (1 child)

I'm probably young and naive, but I'm gonna disagree with most of you guys, just because a weirdly high proportion of my childhood friends have grown up gay. I think the proportion of the population is more in the 10% to 5% range. Like a quarter of my childhood girl scout trope is gay now. We're only in our early 20s now, and so the number may drop again by the time we hit our 30s or 40s. But still, it seems authentic to me right now. Like them being gay makes sense to me; it lines up with my gaydar intuition.

[–]hermiona52 12 insightful - 1 fun12 insightful - 0 fun13 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

I might agree with you. Any estimates right now will be biased. And it will stay this way until we live in times when being a lesbian, or bi or gay won't be an issue at all. A norm (like being a redhead is a norm even though a minority). When there's a generation that is born in such times, grow up - then we'll be able to see a real statistics. But I don't think any of us will live to such times, since stereotypes are still too integrated in our society.

After all, majority of lesbians still feel uneasy even using a word 'lesbian'.

[–]catsuneko 9 insightful - 1 fun9 insightful - 0 fun10 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

I agree with about 1%, I remember seeing that one Pew Research Institute survey and I'm pretty sure it said lesbians make up about that percentage of the US population, and it'd probably be a similar stat elsewhere.

[–]paleolithicat 6 insightful - 1 fun6 insightful - 0 fun7 insightful - 1 fun -  (3 children)

I think the percentage should be at least around the same as gay men.

Why?

1) Somebody said it here already - historically men had a better opportunity to live out their homosexuality AND they are better recorded in history anyway. Women were on the background most of the time so I think a lot of the homosexual activity was just secret enough not to get any attention by men (who were the ones writing history). For one, I have thought about it and I am pretty sure that I would live a heterosexual life as a closeted lesbian if I was born >150 years ago and either seize opportunities to have clandestine affairs with other women or just fantasize about it my whole life.

2) Bisexuality is more accepted in society than homosexuality which explains the higher numbers of females identifying as bisexuals. Again, I went through the defining myself as bisexual phase (even so I was closeted though) as a teenager because it made me feel less decoupled from everyone else and it felt less of a threat to my social status and just less scary. "Oh, yeah, girls are hot and I like them but I like boys too, all good". It is a powerful safety.

3) Heteronormative society pushes women into defining as bisexual because it is convenient for heterosexual men. That way they get access to lesbians and access to threesomes with their very much straight girlfriends. I think all of this makes coming to terms and realizing to be exclusively attracted to women a very, very hard process with lots of craziness in between. Not to speak that there are so many hetero girls convinced that you don't have to be very attracted to a guy, just like his character and how he treats you. I have actually heard about ones explaining that it is normal that sex isn't pleasurable, at least in the beginning etc. All my hetero female friends are very sexual so I didn't have that energy in my life but my ex for example had told me she is so happy she can't complain about sexual issues when talking with her friends who ALL do not enjoy the sex with their boyfriends... Point of the story: Many women would continue defining as bisexual even though they like only girls for real because boys are so easily available (ugh!), pushy (lesbians unite and go for the girls you want!), can be good friends and are maybe making an effort in relationships (which is the part where not-there-yet-lesbians think that because they are fond of their male friends, this means they are in love and everyone told them sex isn't so important anyway).

A personal statistic: in my school year we had 100 girls. From them I know for sure for 4 (including me) who turned out to be lesbians. That is 4% and it doesn't account for others who might have come out but I do not know or are still closeted. I come from a country traditionally considered as homophobic and am a 90s kid. So I think 5% is the minimum actually.

[–]Elvira95[S] 5 insightful - 6 fun5 insightful - 5 fun6 insightful - 6 fun -  (2 children)

thought about it and I am pretty sure that I would live a heterosexual life as a closeted lesbian if I was born >150 years ago and either seize opportunities to have clandestine affairs with other women or just fantasize about it my whole life.

2) Bisexuality is more accepted in society than homosexuality which explains the higher numbers of females identifying as bisexuals. Again, I went through the defining myself as bisexual phase (even so I was closeted though) as a teenager because it made me feel less decoupled from everyone else and it felt less of a threat to my social status and just less scary. "Oh, yeah, girls are hot and I like them but I like boys too, all good". It is a powerful safety.

3) Heteronormative society pushes women into defining as bisexual because it is convenient for heterosexual men. That way they get access to lesbians and access to threesomes with their very much straight girlfriends. I think all of this makes coming to terms and realizing to be exclusively attracted to women a very, very hard process with lots of craziness in between. Not to speak that there are so many hetero girls convinced that you don't have to be very attracted to a guy, just like his character and how he treats you. I have actually heard about ones explaining that it is normal that sex isn't pleasurable, at least in the beginning etc. All my hetero female friends are very sexual so I didn't have that energy in my life but my ex for example had told me she is so happy she can't complain about sexual issues when talking with her friends who ALL do not enjoy the sex with their boyfriends... Point of the story: Many women would continue defining as bisexual even though they like only girls for real because boys are so easily available (ugh!), pushy (lesbians unite and go for the girls you want!), can be good friends and are maybe making an effort in relationships (which is the part where not-there-yet-lesbians think that because they are fond of their male friends, this means they are in love and everyone told them sex isn't so important anyway).

A personal statistic: in my school year we had 100 girls. From them I know for sure for 4 (including me) who turned out to be lesbians. That is 4% and it doesn't account

All statistic say much lower than 5. A single shcool isn't representive.

[–]paleolithicat 4 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 0 fun5 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

Actually it can be. :) Most of those "representative" studies work by taking samples of the population. I think there are many factors as to why the reported number is lower than the real one. Or maybe it is only my wishful thinking haha!

[–]Elvira95[S] 6 insightful - 3 fun6 insightful - 2 fun7 insightful - 3 fun -  (0 children)

Not even in the most open country the lesbian population reaches such numbers of self-report. I mean, nothing is impossible, it's just that realistically speaking, it's a lower number.

[–]MyLongestJourney 5 insightful - 1 fun5 insightful - 0 fun6 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Around 4% .

[–]Lizzythelezzo 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

I don't know. I think it's skewed by the fact that there are a lot of Kinsey 5 bi women who identify as lesbians, especially if they are married to women or primarily date women. But I do think the percentage is fairly small, so somewhere around 1-5% seems pretty accurate.