5.7 percent of Arlington Residents Identify as Gay
Survey finds gays, straights equally satisfied with county services
Washington Blade
By Chris Johnson
August 01, 2008

A survey published by Arlington, Va., officials last week asked responders to identify their sexual orientation and found that 5.7 percent of county residents said they are gay.

While 5.7 percent of county residents identified as “homosexual,” 83.4 percent said they were “heterosexual,”1.2 percent identified as “other” and 9.7 percent did not respond to the question.

ETC Institute, which conducted the survey, gathered answers from 1,298 responders during May and June. The institute mailed a seven-page questionnaire to residents, who responded either through mail, over the phone or online.

The primary goal of the survey was to determine resident satisfaction with county services, such as police protection, park facilities and health services.

The sexual orientation numbers are comparable to what a similar Arlington survey found in 2004. In that year, 5.6 percent of responders identified as “homosexual,” 80.8 percent of responders said they were “heterosexual,” 2.3 percent identified as “other” and 11.3 percent did not respond to the question.

Jay Fisette, a gay member of the Arlington County Board, said he asked ETC Institute to include the sexual orientation question on the survey this year and in 2004 out of curiosity.

“It’s not practical information — it’s just additional information,” he said.

Fisette said the survey validated that there is a significant gay population in Arlington County.

The survey breaks down the responses of gay and straight residents to compare their level of satisfaction with county services. Gay residents had about the same level of satisfaction and concern as their straight counterparts.

For example, 87.1 percent of straight residents were either satisfied or very satisfied with police protection, while 90.8 percent of gay residents were either satisfied or very satisfied. Street traffic management was cited as an important area for improvement by 43.4 percent of straight responders and 43.2 percent of gay responders.

Daniel Hays, president of the Arlington Gay & Lesbian Alliance (AGLA), said the inclusion of the sexual orientation question on the survey “speaks volumes about the quality of the leadership that we enjoy in Arlington County.”

“The political leadership in Arlington care about the LGBT citizenry, and this backs that up,” he said.

Gary Gates, a research fellow at the Williams Institute at the University of California in Los Angeles who specializes in gay demographics, said it’s striking that Arlington would ask about residents’ sexual orientation because such questions on municipality surveys are rare.

Gates said it’s reasonable that 5.7 percent of Arlington residents would identify as gay because the National Survey of Family Growth found in 2002 that about 4 percent of the U.S. population identifies as gay, lesbian or bisexual.

The California Health Interview Survey in 2005 found that 14 percent of adults in San Francisco considered themselves gay, lesbian or bisexual.

The U.S. Census Bureau keeps tabs on how many same-sex couples live in cities and states throughout the country, but does not ask individuals to identify their sexual orientation.

The inclusion of a sexual orientation question on the Arlington survey demonstrates that county officials “care about the opinions and observations of their gay and lesbian citizens” and offers a great example to other jurisdictions, Gates said.

“They also signal to lesbian and gay residents that they are an important part of civic and community life,” he said.

Dyana Mason, executive director of Equality Virginia, the state’s largest non-partisan gay organization, applauded Arlington for including the sexual orientation question on the survey. The decision shows that Arlington officials are “a little bit ahead of the curve in identifying the true demographics of their community,” which will help them better serve residents, she said.