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New poll: We are 10 percent after all, kind of



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Here's the thing: The poll show that 5% of Canadians identify as gay or trans. But 10% of Canadian youth identify as gay.
The Forum Research poll, commissioned by the National Post and taken twice in June to confirm its accuracy, found that 5% of Canadians identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender. And contrary to the popular wisdom that the same-sex marriage rate is surprisingly low, the poll found that a third of LGBT people say they are in a same-sex marriage.
Younger Canadians are far more likely to say they are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender than older Canadians, with 10% of those aged 18 to 34 answering the question with a “yes,” compared to 2% or 3% in the four older age categories.

“My generation didn’t come out until at least university,” said Mr. Rae, 58. “Today, people are coming out in high school, if not grade school.”
And there's the rub. I've always said that if some stranger called me up on the phone and asked if I was gay "for a survey," I'm not sure I'd tell them. And I'm not even in the closet. If 5% are willing to say that they're gay, there most certainly are even more gay and trans people who would refuse to answer, or lie.

But those numbers - of those who refuse to "admit" they're gay or trans - likely are dropping, and the first place you'd expect to see the biggest drop is among today's youth, who are far more accepting of gay and trans folk than their elders.

Thus, it's quite interesting to see 10% of youth saying they're gay or trans.  It might just be a vision of the future, or rather, a clearer, more honest admission of the present.

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