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    LGBT Voices: The Coming Out Experience

    In the Pew Research Center’s survey of LGBT adults, we asked respondents to share three key points in their personal coming out journeys: When they first thought they might be something other than straight or heterosexual; When they knew for sure that they were lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender; and When they first told a close friend or family member about their sexual orientation or gender identity.

  • report

    LGBT Voices: The Coming Out Experience

    Browse hundreds of quotes from LGBT adults describing how the process of telling people about their sexual orientation or gender identity was for them personally.

  • short reads

    South Carolina valedictorian reignites debate on prayer in school

    Earlier this month, the valedictorian at Liberty (S.C.) High School ripped up his prepared graduation speech, which had been approved by school officials, and instead recited the Lord’s Prayer at the public school’s graduation ceremony. According to CNN, Roy Costner IV said he was trying to make a statement that “taking prayer out of schools […]

  • short reads

    LGBT Americans in changing times: Tell us your story

    Our first survey of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community examines their attitudes, experiences and values in today’s changing times. The survey found 92% of LGBT adults saw a society that had become more accepting of them in the last decade. But about half said they still experienced discrimination. These are some of the […]

  • short reads

    How Pew Research conducted its national LGBT community survey

    Why did Pew Research decide to conduct an LGBT-specific survey? We know from our surveys of the general public that there’s been a sharp increase in support for same-sex marriage and in societal acceptance of homosexuality over the past decade. Of course, we’re on the cusp of an important historical and cultural moment with the […]

  • report

    LGBT Voices: The Coming Out Experience

    In the Pew Research Center’s survey of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender adults, we asked respondents to describe how the process of telling people about their sexual orientation/gender identity has been for them personally.

  • report

    A Survey of LGBT Americans

    An overwhelming share of America’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender adults (92%) say society has become more accepting of them in the past decade and an equal number expect it to grow even more accepting in the decade ahead. They attribute the changes to a variety of factors, from people knowing and interacting with someone […]

  • short reads

    Nonprofit news organizations: some want government subsidy

    News outlets often have an adversarial relationship with the government, a longstanding tension  underscored most recently by the Obama administration’s pursuit of leaks to the Associated Press and Fox News Channel and the decisions of the Washington Post and the Guardian newspapers to publish National Security Agency documents. Nevertheless, it might come as a surprise […]