Tolerance indicators

In this post I discussed some of the available data to support indicators around the demographics and quality-of-life aspects of the gay. lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered (GLBT) population in the community. Besides Census information, which is inadequate at best, there's not much to go on, and national estimates don't work at the community level because what is available suggests concentrated populations in a relatively few cities, likely due to the differences in perceived tolerance levels in communities.

A different way of measuring tolerance towards the GLBT community might be through attitude and perception surveys of the general population. The Gallup organization has been polling Americans about these issues since at least 1977, and some interesting trends are available for comparison in local communities.

At GallupPoll.com we find some interesting trends tucked behind the question of a constitutional amendment defining marriage. Trendlines are available for questions like:

• Do you think homosexual relations between consenting adults should or should not be legal? (In the 1980's, 57% surveyed said illegal; in 2006, 56% said legal)
• In general, do you think homosexuals should or should not have equal rights in terms of job opportunities? (In 1977, 56% were in favor of equal rights; in 2006, the number was 89%)
• Do you feel that homosexuality should be an acceptable lifestyle or not? (In 1992, 57% said not; in 2006, 54% said yes, acceptable)
• Would you like to see homosexuality be more widely accepted in this nation, less widely accepted, or is the acceptance of homosexuality in this nation today about right?
• In your view, is homosexuality – [ROTATED: something a person is born with, (or is homosexuality) due to factors such as upbringing and environment]? (1977 -- 13% born with; 2006, 42% born with)

There are more questions and interesting data sets available from Gallup. But they're not the only ones with data sets and survey questions that might prove useful to a local community trying to understand indicators of tolerance beyond Richard Florida's Gay Index. The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life provides other survey information and analysis, including a question about whether acceptance of homosexuality would be good for the country or bad for the country. That's an interesting question to adapt to the community level.

The Pew Research Center on People and the Press is also asking interesting questions. Here they analyze attitudes towards homosexuality in the arenas of marriage, military service, and adoption.

In a different approach, the Kaiser Family Foundation surveyed the homosexual community and the larger public to examine issues of acceptance and discrimination. The 2001 study, Inside-OUT: A Report on the Experiences of Lesbians, Gays and Bisexuals in America and the Public’s Views on Issues and Policies Related to Sexual Orientation (PDF file), provides a perspective and an opportunity for local communities to measure tolerance differently.

What other survey questions do you know of (or would you suggest) to explore questions of tolerance in a community?

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Beyond the "Gay Index"

Recent local work in understanding the status and impact of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender (GLBT) community in our area resulted in a data query (as any exploration often does.) Do I know of a good indicator or set of indicators that would help measure the demographics and quality of life of the local GLBT community?

Richard Florida, in his book The Rise of the Creative Class, advocated the use of a "Gay Index" as a key measure of tolerance in a community. (You'll remember that it was the three T's of Talent, Tolerance, and Technology that, for Dr. Florida, predicted a Creative Community.)

So do we have a good indicator for the GLBT community? Not quite. The "Gay Index" used same-sex unmarried partner household data from the U.S. Census as a proxy for gay couples in the community as a percentage of total households. Similar measures (such as this measure of the gayest zip codes in America from gaydemographics.org use the same data set, which places the national estimates of partnered gay households at 0.99% of the population in 2000 (1.16% in 2004, using American Community Survey estimates.) The data are self-reported survey information.

As a conversation piece or a comparative indicator of tolerance, the data have its uses, but as a quality-of-life or demographic measure of the local GLBT community it is extraordinarily limiting. The data do not measure non-partnered individuals, for example.

The problems with the data available keep growing as definitional questions arise. The National Center for Health Statistics reports the 2002 National Survey of Family Growth found 6.5 percent of men ages 25-44 have had sex with another man, and (in a differently worded question) 11 percent of women reported having had a sexual experience with another woman.

However, these experiences do not appear to correlate with self-identification as gay or lesbian. The National Health and Social Life Survey found the rates of self-reported homosexuality to be 1.3% for women within the prior year, and 4.1% since 18 years, compared to 2.7% for men within the prior year and 4.9% since 18 years.

In Demographics of the Gay and Lesbian Population in the United States: Evidence from Available Systematic Data Sources, better demographic estimates are available, with some possible measures of quality-of-life factors (such as home ownership serving as a possible proxy indicator for wealth.) The datasets, however, remain national, and aren't available on a local level for understanding either demographics or quality-of-life, except by imputing national averages to local conditions. And since the authors point out that 60 percent of partnered homosexual couples live in only 20 U.S. cities, national averages for either demographics or for quality-of-life measures likely mean little at a local level.

How can a community move beyond the crude calculation of the "Gay Index" to begin to understand the demographic characterics of its GLBT population? What indicators have you seen that might answer questions of social connectedness, tolerance, civic engagement, or other quality-of-life aspects of a local GLBT community?

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