Some 4.5 pct of US adults identify as LGBT - study

An estimated 4.5 percent of US adults identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender, and they tend to be younger and poorer than the population at large, according to an analysis of polling data released on Tuesday.

The Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law examined previously released results from the Gallup Daily Tracking survey and went deeper into the data, enabling a more detailed demographic picture of the adult US LGBT population of roughly 11.3 million people.

The institute found Washington, D.C., had the highest percentage of LGBT people at 9.8 percent and North Dakota had the lowest at 2.7 percent.

The self-identifying LGBT population also skews younger. Only 23 percent are age 50 or older, compared with 47 percent of non-LGBT adults, and 56 percent of LGBT adults are under age 35 compared with 28 percent for the non-LGBT population.

"Younger people are more likely to actually live as LGBT and to identify that way because they are growing up in a time when it's more acceptable to acknowledge those feelings and to act on them," said Kerith Conron, research director at the Williams Institute.

The LGBT population is also economically disadvantaged: more likely to lack access to a sufficient nutrition or to have household incomes below $24,000, the analysis found.

Although LGBT people come from all ethnic groups, people of color represent a slightly higher percentage than they do in the general population for reasons that require more research, Conron said.

The Williams Institute, which specializes in LGBT research for law and public policy, also confirmed its previous estimate of the transgender population at 0.6 percent, or roughly 1.4 million US adults.

Conron said an apparent one-percentage-point increase in the LGBT population from 2011 was likely the result of more people feeling comfortable responding to questions about their sexual orientation.

In 2011, the Williams Institute estimated the US LGBT population at 3.5 percent based on other survey data.

Modern polls and surveys estimate the LGBT population well below a common but unattributed figure of 10 percent that sexologists link to an oversimplification of Alfred Kinsey's work some 70 years ago.

However, in surveys that are more anonymous and private, closer to 10 percent of respondents say they have some level of same-sex attraction even if they stop short of identifying themselves as gay, lesbian or bisexual, Conron said.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Plan to split California into six states gains ground

LOS ANGELES - A plan to divide California into six separate US states is closer to making it on to a November ballot, with organizers gaining approval to collect signatures.

The seemingly far-fetched initiative, sponsored by Silicon Valley venture capitalist Tim Draper, claims "political representation of California's diverse population and economies has rendered the state nearly ungovernable."

And on Tuesday, the California Secretary of State's office gave the movement a boost, saying that proponents "may begin collecting petition signatures."

At least 807,615 voters -- representing eight percent of the total ballots cast for governor in the 2010 election -- will need to sign the petition by July 18 to make it on to the ballot.

The proposal aims to split the state -- America's most populous with around 38 million inhabitants -- into "six smaller state governments, while preserving the historical boundaries of the various counties, cities and towns."

In 2012, California was tied with Russia and Italy -- all with a GDP of approximately $2.0 trillion -- for eighth place in world GDP rankings, according to the Center for Continuing Study of the California Economy.

The proposal would create a state out of Silicon Valley, home to tech giants Google, Facebook and Apple. It would also create South California, which would include Hollywood and the US entertainment industry.

West California, Central California, North California, and Jefferson in the most northern part of the state, would also go it alone.

According to the proposal, voters overwhelming approved dividing California in two in 1859, but Congress did not act due to the Civil War.

Draper, who has funded more than 400 companies including Skype and Baidu, is founder of venture capital firm Draper Fisher Jurvetson in Menlo Park, California.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Brilliant Asian Americans face 'bamboo ceiling'

NEW YORK -- Asian American families churn out doctors, engineers and graduate students, but their high-achieving image hides a "bamboo ceiling" that marginalizes the fastest growing US minority, experts say.

Jonathan Saw, Asia Society's senior advisor for Asian Pacific American Research, said Monday that a new survey demonstrates an odd mixture of success and disenchantment, with 83 percent of Asian Americans feeling loyal to their company but only 49 percent feeling they belong.

"Asian Americans don't really see themselves as belonging to corporate America, even though they are very successful," he told AFP.

The reason is that while Asian Americans tend to start strongly, graduating from prestigious schools and quickly winning good jobs, they later hit the so-called "bamboo ceiling."

"You don't see a lot of Asian Americans in senior leadership positions," Saw said.

The problem, according to Saw and others at an Asia Society conference in New York, is deeply ingrained bias within wider US society against treating Asians like other Americans.

"There's this notion of Asian Americans as the perpetual 'other,'" Saw said.

"Asian Americans are always seen as great doers, which is great, but it only gets you to middle management. At that critical juncture between middle manager and senior management, where relationships matter more than what you do, those perceptions matter."

Plenty of racial and ethnic groups in the United States -- most obviously African Americans -- have suffered because of prejudice.

But what makes Asian Americans' problem unique is that they are trapped in the cliche of having to be clever -- clever to the point of being nerdy, out of touch, and unable to represent mainstream American life.

That's why the outbreak earlier this year of "Linsanity" -- the media hysteria over Asian American basketball player Jeremy Lin leading the Knicks to a string of victories -- was a landmark moment, said Saul Gitlin, with Kang & Lee Advertising.

Here was yet another Asian American who started on the expected track of studying at Harvard University but, in a rare twist, emerged as a charismatic sports hero rather than an anonymous doctor or programmer.

"It's a turning point of what happens when you go against the stereotype," Gitlin said, identifying Lin as a beacon for young Asians who have "suffered at the hands of this stereotype of being the smart guy, the geek, the tech guy."

However, actor Sendhil Ramamurthy, who was also once on track to become a doctor, told the conference that typecasting in TV and studio films is as strong as ever.

"Asians play certain characters," he said. "They play the doctor, or they play the smart guy. That's very much still the case. I don't know what it takes to change that, otherwise I'd be doing it."

Experts say change may eventually come, as it often does in the United States, through market forces -- namely the fact that the 17.3 million-strong Asian American population is shooting up and growing rich.

"Asian Americans are the fastest-growing multicultural segment in the US," Thomas Tseng, co-founder of New American Dimensions, said.

Although the Hispanic market is three times bigger and "tends to get most of the attention," the Asian sector is wealthier and higher tech.

Eighty percent of Asian Americans have broadband at home, compared to 60 percent of the general population.

Eighty-seven percent go online every day, compared to 73 percent of the general population, and laptop ownership is 74 percent versus 52 percent, Pew survey figures show.

"You'd think marketers would be falling over themselves to talk to this population, but that's not yet the case," Gitlin said.

"This is a beautiful marketplace, really attractive, but it doesn't really always get invited. I always describe this market as the Cinderella."

article source: interaksyon.com