[net.motss] Statistics on San Francisco homosexuals

peterr@utcsrgv.UUCP (Peter Rowley) (11/29/84)

In an Associated Press story in the Nov 23rd New York Times, the results of
a survey of San Francisco homosexuals is presented, along with some debate
about the survey.  Some excerpts:

  Forty percent of the single men in San Francisco are homosexual, and most of
them are well-educated and earning more than $20,000 a year, according to a
professional survey.
  The survey by the Research and Decisions Corporation, commissioned by the
city-financed SF AIDS Foundation, was designed to produce the first reliable
statistics on the city's homosexuals.

[This section heavily condensed]
Of 706,900 SF'ers, 69,960 are homosexual (based on 500 half-hour interviews).
32% of homosexual men in SF earn more than $30K, with 31% earning $20-$30K.
57% graduated from college, incl. 21% who continued in post-grad education.
42% of homosexual men in SF report they are in monogamous relationships and
13% have one primary relationship that includes outside sexual activity.
78% have all-male sexual partners, 14% are bisexual with mostly male partners
and 7% are bisexual with mostly female partners.
More than half of the homosexual men are in professional-managerial positions
or operate their own businesses.  Another 27% work in sales and clerical jobs.
About half of those surveyed said they were completely out of the closet,
with 34% "mostly out of the closet" and 3% keeping their homosexuality secret.

A representative of the Lesbian-Gay Labor Alliance questioned the reliability
of the survey, saying homosexuals "have a lot of economic avenues closed off
to them because they're gay."  However, he also noted that many affluent
homosexuals were moving into San Francisco.
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Just thought people might be interested in this.  -- p.rowley, U. Toronto

rob@ptsfa.UUCP (Rob Bernardo) (12/03/84)

> In an Associated Press story in the Nov 23rd New York Times, the results of
> a survey of San Francisco homosexuals is presented, along with some debate
> about the survey.  Some excerpts:
> Of 706,900 SF'ers, 69,960 are homosexual (based on 500 half-hour interviews).

I believe the 69,960 were ADULT, MALE SELF-DESCRIBED HOMOSEXUALS.
Non-adults were not surveyed. 
-- 


Rob Bernardo, Pacific Bell, San Francisco, California
{ihnp4,ucbvax,cbosgd,decwrl,amd70,fortune,zehntel}!dual!ptsfa!pbauae!rob

maf@unisoft.UUCP (Mary Ann K. Finnerty) (12/11/84)

>  In an Associated Press story in the Nov 23rd New York Times,
>  the results of a survey of San Francisco homosexuals is presented,
>  along with some debate about the survey.  Some excerpts:
>  
>  Forty percent of the single men in San Francisco are homosexual,
>  and most of them are well-educated and earning more than $20,000
>  a year, according to a professional survey.
>
>  The survey by the Research and Decisions Corporation,
>  commissioned by the city-financed SF AIDS Foundation,
>  was designed to produce the first reliable statistics on
>  the city's homosexuals.
>

It is important to note a few important things about that survey:

1) that the survey was NOT a random sample,

2) the 500 were TELEPHONE interviews and more than 10% of the 
   salaries reported have already been declared as inflated
   and the investigation has just begun...think about it -
   if you weren't making much money and someone asked you
   how much you were making, in a telephone interview, wouldn't
   you be inclined to inflate it a little bit???

Another factor is that homophobia comes in many forms,
and even homosexuals can have some residual homophobia
from growing up in a world determined to assume that
everyone is heterosexual...Thinking that gay men are
all highly educated and affluent is just a softer homophobia -
like the antisemitism in prewar Germany grown from the
view of Jews as being so wealthy and educated such homophobia
could be used against us...

just a thought from a lesbian here in sf...

maf