LGBTQ Stats: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer People by the Numbers

by Bennett L. Singer, David Deschamps, Jennifer Finney Boylan (Afterword)

Twenty years ago it was impossible to imagine the president of the United States embracing same-sex marriage or Bruce Jenner transitioning to Caitlyn Jenner, an open transgender woman.

LGBTQ Stats chronicles the ongoing LGBTQ revolution, providing the critical statistics, and draws upon and synthesizes newly collected data. Deschamps and Singer—whose previous books and films on LGBTQ topics have won numerous awards and found audiences around the globe—provide chapters on family and marriage, workplace discrimination, education, youth, criminal justice, and immigration, as well as evolving policies and laws affecting LGBTQ communities. A chapter on LGBTQ life around the globe contrasts the dramatic progress for LGBTQ people in the United States with violent backlash in countries such as Russia, Iran, and Nigeria, which have discriminatory laws that make same-sex activity punishable by prison or death.

A lively, accessible, and eye-opening snapshot, LGBTQ Stats offers an invaluable resource for activists, journalists, lawmakers, and general readers who want the facts and figures on LGBTQ lives in the twenty-first century.

Genres: LGBT, Nonfiction, Queer, Gender, Sociology, Transgender, Bisexual

352 pages, Paperback

First published January 24, 2017

Reviews

[Meagan · Rating 4 out of 5]

#4 out 12 for my non fiction goal for the year
(I'm a little ahead since I planned to do one every month 😊😊).

This was very informative. I found the info easily accessible. The only downside was that it focused exclusively on the L, G, B and T of the acronym, which I guess is true to the title. There wasn't a single mention of pansexuals or asexuals, etc. If they release an updated edition in the future, I'd like to see more of the community covered. It could be that the current research just doesnt delve in to the stats of the rest of the community but 🤞🏽🤞🏽 for future editions being more inclusive.

Because this was due back at the library I didn't get a chance to read the last two sections on the workplace and youth stats 😔. I also wish I would have taken notes so I could discuss in more detail the things I learned.

I was pleasantly surprised to see an entire chapter on bisexuals and to learn that we are the largest group within the community. I would have never believed it prior to seeing the stats.

It would have been interesting to see a section on intracommunity relations and perceptions but I get that the focus was on the world's changing views and perceptions of the community. This was to highlight how far we have come while still painting a sobering picture of how far we still have to go.

Great read, would recommend.

[deniz eilmore]

my favorite part of this was finding out the ottoman empire decriminalized queerness in the 1850s but my ex still loves to say that the middle east is full of uncivilized barbarians 🤩🤩🤩

[Megan · Rating 5 out of 5]

All the stats and facts I wished were more readily available in an easily digestible form the first time I taught Intro to Queer Studies are all right here, in this easy to use, pleasantly formatted resource! Thank you! I can already tell I'll be drawing from this all the time this semester.

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an invaluable resource for those seeking to understand important topics and issues facing the LGBTQ community.

The book is well-organized, easy to understand, and has great/useful citations throughout. I appreciated the quotes at the beginning of the various chapters as well. Very insightful.

I would highly recommend this for people involved in activism or who need an easy research guide, but I think most people would benefit from at least skimming it or focusing on topic areas of interest, which is very easy to do, given the format.

I may buy a copy to help with presentations and disproving the weird assumptions some people have about the community.

Overall, worthwhile reading. I hope it is updated frequently in the future.

[Tory Cross · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a helpful resource!!!! And so respectful to queer and trans people.

[Hillary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unique resource that is bound to be helpful to those writing research papers. You'd assume it's a book that can't possibly be read cover to cover, but it's surprisingly readable. There are chapters dedicated solely to bisexual and transgender statistics, which is refreshing. I wish there had been more on the asexual/demisexual folks and the ACE community in general. There's probably a lack of studies, but if the author had consulted AVEN, they would have found a 2008 survey of people on the ACE spectrum on the site. There is something a little troubling in the chapter on bisexuality--a Flavorwire list is cited that claims Malcolm X was bisexual, based on findings published in Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention, but the book referenced offers no conclusive evidence that Malcolm X was anything but heterosexual.

[JP · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this for June together with All Boys Aren't Blue by George M. Johnson. Now this is a very extensively researched book. I was tempted to give it four stars at first because it's basically an avalanche of facts missing the warmth of human feelings. But when I finished the book and saw the bibliography, I understood the kind of effort it must have taken to piece all of this together. Bennett Singer had to defend the truth of what LGBTQ people face and he's putting it all out there, minimal emotional appeal, no calls to arms. Here is what we know, take it, and just think for yourself. It is aptly named LGBTQ Stats after all and in that niche it shines so brightly.

I'm glad the US has something like this. My wish is that works like this exist in every country. If people just look at the facts, maybe they could understand each other more.

[Suzanne Ondrus · Rating 4 out of 5]

At first this was a challenge to read because of the form. It is exactly as the title says- statistics. But it has a range of information from top LGBTQ films to rates of murder. It helped me prepare a LGBTQ training session.

[Mya Burns · Rating 5 out of 5]

very useful resource. lots of interesting stats

[Emilio Wawa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Know your numbers, I guess

[SRRG · Rating 5 out of 5]

This STATS book is great. It is extremely comprehensive--but don't let that the term "stats" put you off if you are not a numbers person! LGBTQ Stats, is absolutely a compelling read and it makes for a very useful reference. The information is presented in a thought provoking, concise and easy-to-follow fashion. I particularly have enjoyed the simple pleasure of flipping through the book and/or opening pages at random and learning about important facts and trends.

[Amory · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an incredibly informative read that I would recommend all LGBTQ+ people at least flip through once if they happen to find a copy. It's quite dense to read straight through, as reading 300 pages of statistical information can be daunting and eventually blur together. I would say the best possible way to read this would be to read a section at a time, or even to own a copy and pull it out when a discussion on any of the sections in this book comes up.

[Classic Bhaer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very interesting, the name is very accurate, this book is a lot of questions being answers via data collected via census and polls. It is best read in chunks a little at a time because it reads like a textbook.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well organized, easily searched, and up to date.

[ari aragón · Rating 4 out of 5]

This gave me interesting information about the LGBT community and helped me to get a more conclusive look at what statics are available in regards to the intersection with the community.

[Taffy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a wonderful resource. It’s very easily searchable, and the stats are described within the context of their source and methodology as well as comparable studies over the years. The writing is clear and accessible, and there are approachable anecdotes alongside the tables and charts and bullet points of facts. I learned a lot of stats that surprised me. It made me think more critically about my own approach to LGBTQIA+ rights and realize how much more there is to accomplish.

The authors do a good job of including positive statistics along with the negative, showing how far we’ve come alongside how far we still have to go; for example, after a list of grim statistics for “What forms of discrimination do trans people face?”, there was a set of stats addressing “What evidence of resilience did the study’s authors chronicle?”

I would like to own a copy of a future revised edition to have on hand to look up info. So much has changed since 2016 (…and so much hasn’t…) that another update would be incredibly useful; also, as other reviewers have pointed out, there is a noticeable lack of stats on ace and aro folks that should be improved upon in the future.

[Blue]

I think reading about and researching the statistics and historical facts about the queer community is really fun. I'm someone who does like to know about the history of things, and finds statistics interesting to learn. That being said, I wasn't the biggest fan of this book.
~
I don't really know if that's because I tried to read it at the wrong point in time, or if it just simply wasn't for me. But whatever the reason I just couldn't take in any of the information and I wasn't reaching to pick it up very often.
~
For the right person, and at the right time I'm sure it'll be great, unfortunately it just wasn't the right time for me to read it.

[K · Rating 5 out of 5]

Used this book all semester as I worked on a research paper about violence against transgender individuals. It is very informative and helpful, great resource. And eye opening.

[Liam Arne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good, but due to the presence of straight facts (no pun intended), it’s a bit dry

[Alexis Clements · Rating 5 out of 5]

People just assume that there are statistics for everything these days - that you can find the number for just about any question you can dream up. But that's far from true, particularly when it comes to people in marginalized groups like those who identify as LGBTQ. This book is the best resource I've ever encountered for finding incredibly difficult to track down numbers. And importantly, they also add a lot of context to each number. In addition, the commentary in the book about the challenges of finding numbers and representing LGBTQ people through numbers shows the insight and nuanced approach of a book that might seem, on its surface, to be fairly straightforward (I see the pun there now...). Anyhow, this is a must-have resource for anyone who writes or thinks about LGBTQ people. The numbers will always be changing, but even as they shift, this book and its vast list of references will continue to offer important background and insight.

[Katrina Rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

Find this review at LenaMayBooks

“Twenty years ago it was impossible to imagine the president of the United States embracing same-sex marriage or Bruce Jenner transitioning to Caitlyn Jenner, an open transgender woman.”
LGBTQ Stats is filled with a plethora of information. With how much society has grown to accept people of all sexualities and genders, this book is essential for many types of people. Topics range from discrimination in the work place to education and from immigration to criminal justice.

There’s even accounts of how much criticism the USA has gotten from countries who sentence same sex couples to death. I particularly was interested in the changed regulations for gay men regarding giving blood as well as President Barack Obama’s role in the new decision.

For the journalist, the activist, the advocate, the lawyer or the reader, LGBTQ Stats is filled to the brim with statistics and information, in just over 200 pages.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

current & revealing with new data--

[Liz Freed · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fantastic, up-to-date, and pulling from many sources. It explains some of the finer points (for example, the section on religious stats includes basic lists of faiths which are affirming). When multiple studies are available, it posts the stats from all of them and gives hypotheses about the variances.

Little text, well-formatted, easy to read. I recommend it to anyone interested in the subject.

[Mills College Library]

306.76609 D4461 2016