HIV/AIDS In The Lives Of Gay And Bisexual Men In The United States

In addition to their opinions and experiences related to HIV/AIDS, this survey allows us to provide some basic demographic information about gay and bisexual men. Overall, seven in ten (70 percent) call themselves gay and three in ten (30 percent) think of themselves as bisexual. One in five (20 percent) say they are married, including a much higher percentage of bisexual men (42 percent) compared with gay men (10 percent). Including those who are married, in a civil union, or living with a partner, about half (53 percent) say they are in a committed relationship (including similar shares of those who identify as gay and those who identify as bisexual). Twelve percent live in a household with at least one child under the age of 18. Just 13 percent say they live in an area known for being an LGBT neighborhood, while the vast majority (86 percent) say they do not.

When it comes to health care, the large majority (82 percent) say they are covered by some form of health insurance, most commonly from an employer or labor union (52 percent), followed by Medicare (16 percent), Medicaid (11 percent), plans purchased on their own outside the new health insurance marketplace (6 percent), and plans purchased from the new marketplace (4 percent). Thirteen percent say they do not have any form of health insurance.

Nearly eight in ten (78 percent) say they have a regular place to go for health care, most commonly a doctor’s office or HMO (54 percent) or a general clinic or health center (14 percent). However, as noted above, three in ten either have no usual source of care (22 percent) or do not have a regular personal doctor at the place they usually seek care (9 percent).

When it comes to politics, over three-quarters (77 percent) of gay and bisexual men say they are registered to vote at their present address, and the vast majority identify as a Democrat (56 percent) or a Democratic-leaning independent (23 percent). Just 9 percent call themselves Republicans and 8 percent are independents who lean toward the Republican Party. Ideologically, two-thirds (67 percent) call themselves liberal, while 20 percent say they are moderate and 12 percent say they are conservative. Over four in ten (42 percent) report no religious affiliation. The most commonly reported religious affiliations are Catholic (17 percent), Protestant – including Methodist, Lutheran, Presbyterian and Episcopal (15 percent), Baptist (8 percent), and other Christian denominations (7 percent).