Idaho & Wyo. toward bottom of list for LGBT population

Gallup came out with new poll results Friday from what the organization calls the largest single study on the distribution of the LGBT population.

According to the report, our nation’s capitol tops the list, with ten percent of adult Washington, D.C., residents saying they’re lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender.

Only Washington, D.C., and Hawaii were above 5 percent. Rounding out the top 5 were Vermont, Oregon and Maine.

Idaho and Wyoming landed toward the bottom of the list at 2.7 percent and 2.9 percent, respectively.

Utah matched Idaho with 2. 7 percent.

The lowest percentage of adults who identify as part of the LGBT community is in North Dakota: 1.7 percent. North Dakota was the only state below 2 percent.

Gallup offered the following possible explanation for the numbers:

“States with high LGBT percentages tend to be more liberal and have more supportive LGBT legal climates, while those at the lower end of the LGBT spectrum are generally the most conservative. This suggests that one explanation for the variation across states is the relationship between the willingness to disclose LGBT identity and the environment of one’s state of residence. It is also possible that LGBT adults make conscious choices to reside in certain states rather than others, but this possibility is difficult to assess and seems less likely.”

For a closer look at the results, see http://goo.gl/s09wY.