More than a day after releasing a report that listed Kentucky as having a higher percentage of gay adults than any other state, the University of California, Los Angeles School of Law Williams Institute said the data for the Bluegrass State was wrong. Almost every LGBTQ+ media outlet reported about the initial report. In the correction and apology issued on X, Brad Sears, founding director of the institute acknowledged the mistake and apologized to the readers. The post said that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data used was updated in July 2023, an update that was missed by the school. It turns out that the percentage of gay adults living in Kentucky is 4.9%, which is below the national average of 5.6% and puts the commonwealth in a tie for 43rd. He said the institute is working on a new analysis of LBGTQ+ adults. According to the institute, after combining 2020-2021 BRFSS data, 5.6% of U.S. adults identify as LGBT and there are almost 14.1 million LGBT adults in the U.S. The study also divided the country by region and gave an estimate of percentages and numbers of adults in the group of states in each one. Northeast: 18.3%, Midwest: 20.6%, West: 24.2%, and South region with the highest number of LGBTQ+ adults which is 36.9%.
