Significance for the marriage debate? What comes to mind is why redefine the institution of marriage for the benefit of only .65 percent of Minnesota households. Again the redefinition of marriage to a genderless institution isn't about letting a few gay couples get married but redefining the institution for all of society, such that the man/woman connection is completely eliminated. And as a result, the state will have an legal interest in promoting and imposing it's new definition of marriage on the rest of society.
These numbers also point out what a small percent of households gay couples comprise. Around one half of one percent. This of course is contrary to public perception. A Gallup poll in May found that a majority of Americans believe that 25%of Americans are gay or lesbian. I wonder what they came up with that idea? The media and entertainment industry where gay or lesbians characters are disproportionally portrayed.
It was interesting reading a Gallup interpretation of the numbers. They note there is "little reliable evidence" about the actual number of gays and lesbians because it's a fluid label.
There is little reliable evidence about what percentage of the U.S. population is in reality gay or lesbian, due to few representative surveys asking about sexual orientation, complexities surrounding the groups and definitions involved, and the probability that some gay and lesbian individuals may not choose to identify themselves as such. Demographer Gary Gates last month released a review of population-based surveys on the topic, estimating that 3.5% of adults in the United States identify as lesbian, gay, or bisexual, with bisexuals making up a slight majority of that figure. Gates also disputes the well-circulated statistic that "10% of the males are more or less exclusively homosexual."While perception becomes reality for some people, it still doesn't change reality.
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