Seventy-Seven Percent of Americans Know Someone Gay or Lesbian

kevinh — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 15:03:40 +0000

Seventy-seven percent of Americans now say they know someone who is gay or lesbian, a new CBS News poll finds – an increase of 35 percentage points since 1992, when a majority of Americans said they did not.

More than six in ten Americans say they have a close friend, work colleague or relative who is gay or lesbian. Just 22 percent say they do not know anyone at all who falls into that category.

The increasing visibility of gay and lesbian Americans appears to have contributed toward more positive perceptions of homosexual relations. Forty-three percent of Americans currently see homosexual relations between consenting adults as “wrong” – a drop of 19 percentage points from a Gallup poll taken in 1978.

Florida Agenda » CBS News poll

Seventy-Seven Percent of Americans Know Someone Gay or Lesbian