Comfort Levels Around Pozzers

Andrew Sullivan points out an updated survey just published by Kaiser. Even in 2011, more than half of the respondents say they aren't comfortable having their food handled by HIV+ people. Embiggen for details.

Identity Gap

The Wall Street Journal looks at recent estimates of the size of the LGBT community in the United States and why some consider such figures to be inherently unreliable.

Out Magazine Releases Sex Survey

Out Magazine has issued its first-ever sex survey of its readers. The sample size is small, 1000 people, and the results are only indicative of folks who read Out, not the LGBT population as a whole. Still, there's some interesting factoids such as the above.

SURVEY: The Family Research Council Wants To Know What You Think Of Them

Well, what are you waiting for? Go tell them. I've given you a few keywords that may help you craft your response.

New Survey: 8% Gay, 7% Lesbian

In what they are calling the "largest nationally representative study of sexual and sexual-health behaviors ever fielded," a just-released survey commissioned by Indiana University says that 8% of adult American men self-identify as gay or bisexual, with 7% of women identifying as lesbian or bisexual. Those numbers are almost triple the percentages claimed by some anti-gay groups.

ABC News takes note of the study's "interesting findings."

About 85 percent of men reported that their partner had an orgasm during their most recent sexual encounter, but only 64 percent of women report having had one. Researchers said the difference is too great to attribute to men having had their last encounter with another man. Eight percent of men and 7 percent of women identify as gay, lesbian or bisexual, but a much higher percentage report engaging in sexual activity with someone of the same sex at least once. The study found that 15 percent of men aged 50-59 have received oral sex from another man at some point.

Here's one of the sexual behaviors graphs from the study.

Atheists Know The Most About Religion

A survey testing Americans' knowledge about the religions of the world showed that atheists and agnostics know more than professed believers. Interestingly, some of the questions most frequently answered incorrectly were about the responders' own religions.

Forty-five percent of Roman Catholics who participated in the study didn't know that, according to church teaching, the bread and wine used in Holy Communion is not just a symbol, but becomes the body and blood of Christ. More than half of Protestants could not identify Martin Luther as the person who inspired the Protestant Reformation. And about four in 10 Jews did not know that Maimonides, one of the greatest rabbis and intellectuals in history, was Jewish. [snip]

Respondents to the survey were asked 32 questions with a range of difficulty, including whether they could name the Islamic holy book and the first book of the Bible, or say what century the Mormon religion was founded. On average, participants in the survey answered correctly overall for half of the survey questions. Atheists and agnostics scored highest, with an average of 21 correct answers, while Jews and Mormons followed with about 20 accurate responses. Protestants overall averaged 16 correct answers, while Catholics followed with a score of about 15.

The best predictor for religious knowledge, unsurprisingly, was level of education.

The Limit Of Happiness: $75,000

According to a Gallup survey mentioned in the Wall Street Journal, once you are making $75K/year, any further increases in your wealth don't make you any happier.

The study, which analyzed Gallup surveys of 450,000 Americans in 2008 and 2009, suggested that there were two forms of happiness: day-to-day contentment (emotional well-being) and overall “life assessment,” which means broader satisfaction with one’s place in the world. While a higher income didn’t have much impact on day-to-day contentment, it did boost people’s “life assessment.” Now we have more details from the study, conducted by the Princeton economist Angus Deaton and famed psychologist Daniel Kahneman. It turns out there is a specific dollar number, or income plateau, after which more money has no measurable effect on day-to-day contentment. The magic income: $75,000 a year. As people earn more money, their day-to-day happiness rises. Until you hit $75,000. After that, it is just more stuff, with no gain in happiness.

You have to wonder how many of the surveyed live in New York City.

Most Gay-Friendly Colleges

An outfit called Campus Pride has issued their annual Campus Climate Index rating over 200 colleges for their friendliness to LGBT students. This year 19 schools received full five-star ratings. Note that only the schools that voluntarily returned their surveys were rated.

In development since 2001, the Index has become a staple in student and faculty research, campus organizing efforts and benchmarking for LGBT student safety and inclusion on campus. Each summer, university officials are encouraged to fill out new questionnaires and update their Index profiles. This year, the Campus Climate Index is proud to announce five-star rankings for 19 colleges and universities – the most ever achieving the Index’s highest ranking since the its inception in 2007-08. The 19 five-star-ranked campuses include: Carleton College; Humboldt State University; Ithaca College; Oberlin College; Oregon State University; Princeton University; San Diego State University; Syracuse University; The Ohio State University; The Pennsylvania State University; University of California, Berkeley; University of California, Los Angeles; University of California, Riverside; University of Maine, Farmington; University of Oregon; University of Pennsylvania; University of Southern California; University of Vermont; and Washington University in St. Louis.

Hit the above link to search for your own school's rating.