Only 3.4pc of the US population are
homosexual, rather than the 10pc that is often cited, according to a new poll.

 The survey, carried out by Gallup, based its
findings on a huge sample of 120,000 participants.

 The survey asked: “”Do you, personally,
identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender?”

 Just over three percent of people said Yes,
with 92.2pc answering no and 4.4pc either not knowing or refusing to answer.

An ESRI
survey of over 7,000 people – The Irish Study of Sexual Health and
Relationships – found that only 2pc of Irish men and 1pc of Irish women
classified themselves as only or mostly homosexual.

A survey in Britain conducted by the Office of National Statistics put the number of British homosexuals at 1.5pc.

According to Gallup, the survey is the
largest single study of the distribution of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and
transgender (LGBT) population in the U.S. on record.

Other studies, such as the General Social
Survey conducted by the University of Chicago, asked a sexual orientation
question in its 2008 and 2010 survey of about 2,000 adults in each year.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services’ National Survey of Family Growth asked a sexual orientation question
of about 12,000 young adults aged 18 to 44 in 2002 and of more than 20,000
adults in its 2006-2010 survey.

Gallup said that its 3.4pc figure was similar
to a 3.8pc estimate made by one of the authors of this US Government study,
based on an average of a group of smaller U.S. surveys conducted from 2004 to
2008.

Meanwhile, new polling in a number of US
states holding referenda on same-sex marriage show that support for the
pro-marriage side is gaining overall.

Four US states, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota
and Washington, are set to hold votes on marriage.

In Minnesota, voters are being asked to
decide whether to back a constitutional amendment defining marriage as being
between a man and a woman. A recent poll conducted by Public Policy Polling, a
Democratic polling firm, showed a lead of one percent for advocates of the
amendment.

In Washington state, support for a measure
which would legalise same-sex marriage is ahead by only 49 to 45 percent among
likely voters.

This represents a four point drop in support
gay marriage since September, when 53 percent of Washington voters said they
backed same-sex marriage, and a six point gain for opponents of the proposal.

So far, $11 million has been spent on the
campaign, with the “bulk of it spent by gay marriage supporters” according to
the Associated Press. Supporters of the proposal, entitled Referendum 74 have
raised nearly $11 million, more than five times as much as opponents of gay
marriage.

 A number of major corporations have pooled
their resources to take out a full-page ad announcing support for gay marriage:

Executives from leading Washington businesses
— including iconic Northwest brands such as Costco, Microsoft, REI, Amazon.com,
and many others — have signed onto a full page ad in this morning’s Sunday
Seattle Times, endorsing Referendum 74.

The Seattle Times corporation, a leading
media group in the state, announced it was donating $90,000 in in-kind
newspaper ads to support gay marriage.

Polls in Maryland and Maine both show support
for same-sex ballot proposals have significant leads, with more than 50pc of
voters indicating they support such a measure in both states. However, no US
state has yet passed a referendum in favour of same-sex marriage. There have
been 32 such referenda, and the pro-same-sex marriage side has never won.