Where are all the gay people ?

[moonlake]

Sorry if this question appears dumb.
Given the fact that 5-10 % of the population are supposedly gay : where are all these people ?
I'm 27 and I'm moved towns quite a lot in my life. I currently live in a rather large city and know a fair amount of people. Yet in my entire life I have met exact two openly gay people. One was a person that used to live next door when I lived in a different city a while back and another one is a thrice-removed lesbian cousin which I've met only once.
There are other people which I suspect could be gay, but as far as openly homosexual people are concerned that's it. Is this normal ? Or is it just me ? Considering the fact that 5 % of the population is gay and even taking into account that only a fraction is out : shouldn't I have met dozens by now ?

[theworld]

I would think you have met more than you think. Being openly gay doesn't necessarily mean they're going to be constantly proclaiming it; for most, it's probably just being able to say that he or she is gay.

[littledinosaurs]

I just read this thing that said we take up 11%
and i don't know where they are, did you check behind the couch?
*shrugs*

[kayar]

Yeah, I'd have to agree with you. It's no help when I'm only just coming out, and yet to have any gay sexual experiences; when it's so hard to know who's gay and who's not among the people I meet. I want to explore my gay sexuality, but I'm seriously hindered
by my inexperience and inability to recognise who's gay and who's straight. It's soooo frustrating, isn't it? I haven't tried any gay clubs or bars yet, I was kind of hoping that wasn't going to be the only route to take.

Wish you luck! Kayar, X.

[Maggi]

same question i had!
in our school of 2,600 i only know of 10 gay people
insanity!

[Markio]

Do a musical. That's how I know most of the gay guys from my high school. And apparently all the gay college students are theatre majors too, according to my theatre major girl-friend. Of course it's just a stereotype: after all, I'm gay and not a theatre major. They're also all at the GLBT Centers. And dance clubs.

[littledinosaurs]

Come to think of it, you will start spotting them easier!
I know when i go out with friends we just are like "omg look more lesbians" they are in excess around here
we look for them and i want a shirt that says "we're everywhere!"

[Lexington]

One job has roughly 10% gays.
The other is closer to 20%.
On the floor of the building where I live, over 50% of the people are gay.

...apparently, they're all hanging around ME.

Lex

[moonlake]

I would think you have met more than you think. Being openly gay doesn't necessarily mean they're going to be constantly proclaiming it; for most, it's probably just being able to say that he or she is gay.

I'm sure I must have spoken to many gay people. But in a way it's funny : with straight people you always know they are straight. They talk about spouses, girl/boy friends, camping trips with their family etc all the time.
The few people I suspect might be gay, I suspect mainly for the reason that they never talk about anything even remotely private. But I have yet to meet anyone that has - even indirectly - said that he or she is homosexual.

[Dazed]

Originally Posted by Lexington

One job has roughly 10% gays.
The other is closer to 20%.
On the floor of the building where I live, over 50% of the people are gay.

...apparently, they're all hanging around ME.

Lex

lex is a gay magnet.

[SpacerX]

it is frustrating at times, but going to bars or clubs is a good way to meet people

[Wander]

Dang...I'm here in the deep south and I can think of one, two...eleven out gay people I've met.

[myra]

go to some college. any college with a music or art program. you'll find them there. lol. LGBT centers and my high school back home seemed infested.

[Greggers]

Originally Posted by littledinosaurs

I just read this thing that said we take up 11%
and i don't know where they are, did you check behind the couch?
*shrugs*

LOL! Thats amazing

And i wouldent doubt 11% at all, if we are counting LGBT this means all the Bi people too and then its gets even harder to estimate. Really, if your LOOKING for them its not hard at all. Join support groups, go to gay bars and clubs, local lgbt website communities, whatever it is you choose to do you will be swimming in them ...some of us dont have any of these options because we live 1 hour + away from non-farmland :P

[curiousdude]

Try looking at the end of a rainbow.

[Jeimuzu]

Well, at school, there was Patrick, Charlotte, Tash, and I'm sure I saw a friend on a gay dating site, too... college, Phil and his boyfriend, oh and James too... at uni there's been bi Scott, gay Scott, both gay Nicks... Caela is bi I think... At summer camp, there was Cory, Jon and Josh... sure K is too, but no guarantee there. There's David who I met when I was moving house... Big group of people through uni LGBT group, and my local Mesmac. So really, there's plenty. And this is not counting anyone I've met through facebook. If we do that, then my experience is that about 70% of the population is gay haha!

[BlakeHarmony]

Originally Posted by Loveislove

LOL! Thats amazing

And i wouldent doubt 11% at all, if we are counting LGBT this means all the Bi people too and then its gets even harder to estimate. Really, if your LOOKING for them its not hard at all. Join support groups, go to gay bars and clubs, local lgbt website communities, whatever it is you choose to do you will be swimming in them ...some of us dont have any of these options because we live 1 hour + away from non-farmland :P

I know, me neither...

In Canada, it is hard to be less than one hour away from non farmland... Unless you live in a city like I do, but even then, you are always less than an hour away from farmland (well, until you get too far north). I wish it took me an hour to get to non-farmland... We should trade.

[BlueRose]

They're here, somewhere, I know. I've seen them sometimes, though only from a distance, as if looking in at a zoo. I might, one evening, stop and think, He certainly looks gay, but, then, as quickly as I think it, I dismiss the thought entirely from my mind. Because this is Georgia, and thinking like that is generally non-productive. Unless someone comes up and introduces someone to me directly saying, "Meet my gay friend X. He's a homosexual, like you," I'll never be able to pick somebody out as being gay. But I do see them sometimes, and I do, from time to time, entertain the thought of attending the GSA we have here. I'm certain I'd meet some there.

But, yes, there are relatively few of us. Statistically speaking, one out of ten people is gay. But, as Mr. Twain so rightly said, There are lies, damn lies, and statistics. Never trust them. You could, theoretically, go your entire life without having seen one. On the other hand, it is possible to know only gay people. But both scenarios are statistically improbable. That you have met so few only means there are even more left to be met. Always will be, really. Heaven forbid the day should come we run out of people to meet.

[moonlake]

and i don't know where they are, did you check behind the couch?

Checked there, but there was no one there. Hmm. I don't have a proper closet, but I think I'll check my bedroom drawers next. Maybe that's close enough ...

Sometime I feel like I live in a strange parallel world. Until I went to college, I didn't really know what "gay" meant. Sure - I'd heard of the word, and had heard that there were people with same-sex partners, but I never really thought about what that actually meant. It was so far off my radar - no one ever talked about it and there were no gay people around. I naturally assumed I was straight and the thought of being anything else never even crossed my mind. Only when I was around 20 did I begin to wonder if I could be this strange thing that you sometimes have people on TV refer to.

I've lived a number of places and met may different people. I've met people of pretty much every race, political pursuation, many different nationalities, professions and hair colors. Only this rare species of the homo homosexualis has eluded me - so I sometimes wonder if it actually exists in nature or possibly only in virtual reality...

Originally Posted by littledinosaurs

I just read this thing that said we take up 11%
and i don't know where they are, did you check behind the couch?
*shrugs*

Lmao. It's true thoigh there are probably more than you think just no one is openly declaring it.