Mirror, mirror on the wall, WHO is the LGBTQ-est of them ALL?

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The Williams Institute at UCLA’s School of Law says they have the answer to that question and more.

What state or region of this country has cornered the market on all things LGBTQ+++?  Well, let’s see. 

According to the December 2023 UCLA study, 5.5 percent of the adult US population — or 13.9 million people — identifies as LGBTQ.   (To put THAT in perspective, the percentage of Americans who identified as “black” in 2021 was 14.2 — for a total of 47.2 million people. )

The District of Columbia leads the nation in terms of percentage of adult population identifying as LGBTQ.   Here are the top five states according to population:

In terms of percentage of state population, North Carolina has one of the smallest LGBTQ cohorts in the nation.  South Carolina has a slightly larger percentage, while Tennessee and Virginia have significantly higher ones.

According to the UCLA study, only Mississippi and West Virginia have smaller percentages than North Carolina.

The UCLA study also took a look at the states according to actual numbers of people identifying as LGBTQ+.  (It’s – um – interesting how many round numbers they came up with.)

The study claims 353,100 North Carolinians identify as LGBTQ+.  Let’s put that in context.  The typical US congressional district — as of the 2020 census — contained an average of 716,169 people.

A 2021 UNC-Chapel Hill study estimated “…[t]he ideal district size for NC Senate seats will be 208,788 and can range between 198,348 and 219,227.”

The UCLA study also found that the southern US contains the highest percentage (and number) of LGBTQ-identifying adults in the country.  (Of course, I never knew Maryland and Delaware counted as “southern” states.)