According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, approximately two percent of Americans over the age of 18 are gay, based on the agency's findings in their national health statistics report. Additionally, this demographic of people suffer from specific health challenges.
The 2013 data analyzed in the national report included 34,557 adults over the age of 18. Respondents were asked to give their sexual orientation: 96.6% identified themselves as straight, 1.7% said they were gay, 0.7% said they were bisexual, and 1.1% were unsure or didn't respond. The report concluded that the sexual orientation data provided can help meet the Healthy People goals for 2020 as well as other objectives to improve the health of lesbian, gay, and bisexual persons.
The researchers found significant differences in health-related behaviors, health status, health care utilization, and health care access among the respondents. They noted that sexual minorities (gay, lesbian, or bisexual) fared worse in a number of aspects in these categories compared to the straight population. For example, sexual minorities were found to smoke and drink more, and were less likely to have a regular place to receive medical care.
They also experienced a number of health problems that are more common among their demographic. More than one-third of lesbians and over 40% of bisexual women were obese, compared to 28% of straight women. 54% female sexual minorities also reported to be in very good health compared to 63.3% of female sexual majorities. Both male and female sexual minorities also reported an 11% rate of experiencing psychological distress within the last 30 days compared to 3.9% of straight people. (And it's already known that sexual minorities are at a higher risk for obtaining a number of sexually transmitted diseases.)
But there were some positives that came out of the national report for gay, lesbian, and bisexual persons. Sexual minorities were found to be getting more exercise and were more likely to have private health insurance plans than sexual majorities. Gay men appeared to be the most fit out of all the respondents. Additionally, more sexual minorities reported utilizing their health care services more often through obtaining flu vaccinations and HIV tests. However, these conflicted findings have the researchers a bit stymied.
"We saw some differences by sexual orientation, but there is no clear overall pattern," said report lead author Brian Ward, a health statistician with the U.S. National Center for Health Statistics, in this Philly.com article. "You can't say gay, lesbians and bisexuals have poorer health overall."
The ten-page "Sexual Orientation and Health Among U.S. Adults: National Health Interview Survey, 2013" report provides more information and can be found on the CDC website.