Gay & Lesbian Market Market Research Reports & Industry Analysis

The past decade has seen substantial improvements in the status of gay men and lesbians in the workplace and in society as a whole. Against this background of accelerating change, the most profound trend affecting the gay and lesbian market may be the increasing acknowledgment by American society and legal institutions of the value and validity of committed same-sex relationships—a modern social progress movement often called marriage equality. Since the mid-1990s public opinion has continually shifted toward favoring same-sex marriage, while the percentage of Americans supporting civil unions is at an all-time high.

California has the largest population of any single state and, unsurprisingly, also has the largest gay and lesbian population. Its projected 2.3 million gay and lesbian residents represent 15% of the U.S. gay and lesbian population as a whole. New York follows, with a gay and lesbian population of approximately 1.2 million. However, it is important to note that the distribution of the gay and lesbian population is not purely a coastal phenomenon. There are substantial gay and lesbian populations in states such as Texas, Illinois, Ohio and Georgia.

Same-sex couples are more likely to be found in large metropolitan areas. Around 40% of all same-sex couples live in the 15 largest metropolitan areas, compared to only 30% other households.

In addition to providing goods and services for gay and lesbian couples in conjunction with their wedding ceremonies and celebrations, marketers can benefit from targeting gay and lesbian family households, just as they do in the American consumer market as a whole. Census data show that roughly one in five (21%) same-sex couples have children under the age of 18 in the household. This means that a substantial number of gay and lesbian family households generate significant expenditures on children as well as on themselves.