A 2006 report issued by The Williams Institute on Sexual Orientation concluded that the number of same-sex couples in the U.S. grew from nearly 600,000 in the year 2000 to almost 777,000 by 2005. A 2011 report by the Institute estimated that 4 million adults identify as gay or lesbian. Whether you believe the number of people willing to proclaim they are lesbian has grown, or the number of women who prefer relationships with other women has actually expanded – the significance of these numbers remains exactly the same. The size of the open and out lesbian dating pool is more than six times the size of what it was only a handful of years ago.

The outspoken LGBT community is also becoming a decisive force in matters as far ranging as political campaigns and media marketing campaigns. In fact, The New York Times recently reported that “Mr. Obama’s more than three-to-one edge in exit polls among the 5 percent of voters who identified as gay, lesbian or bisexual was more than enough to give him the ultimate advantage, according to the study, by Gary J. Gates of the Williams Institute at the U.C.L.A. School of Law, in conjunction with Gallup.

[Read more...]