Disclosure of Sexual Orientation by Gay and Bisexual Men in Government-Administered Probability Surveys
Abstract
PURPOSE: Researchers are increasingly using national population surveys (NPS) to understand the health of gay and bisexual men (GBM). However, valid inference from these surveys depends on accurate identification of GBM. METHODS: We asked 8126 GBM in an anonymous, online, community-recruited survey about their willingness to reveal their sexual orientation in NPS. RESULTS: Overall, 30% indicated that they would not reveal their sexual orientation; however, there were differences in frequencies according to sexual orientation, relationship status, age, HIV status, living environment, education, income, and ethnicity. CONCLUSION: NPS might not be fully representative of GBM due to misclassification errors stemming from unwillingness to disclose.
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Ferlatte and colleagues (2017) found that 86% of gay participants and 40% of bisexual participants were willing to disclose their sexual orientation on a Statistics Canada survey in 2012.
“Ferlatte and colleagues (2017) found that 86% of gay participants and 40% of bisexual participants were willing to disclose their sexual orientation on a Statistics Canada survey.”
From Willingness to disclose sexual orientation and gender identity on federal government surveys: A community-based research study with gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer men and nonbinary and Two-Spirit people in Canada (2026) · cites this paper as Ferlatte et al., 2017
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- Authors
- Ferlatte, O., Hottes, T. S., Trussler, T., & Marchand, R.
- Affiliations
- University of British Columbia (CA)
- Community-Based Research Centre for Gay Men's Health, Vancouver, Canada.
- Community Based Research Centre (CA)
- Corresponding author
- Ferlatte, Olivier
- ORCID
- Ferlatte, Olivier
- Venue
- LGBT Health
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2017-02
- Volume
- 4
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 68-71
- ISSN
- 2325-8292 (ISSN-L)
- 2325-8306
- OpenAlex
- W2522687721
- Cited by
- 50
- References
- 21
- Citations by year
- 2025: 7 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 8 · 2022: 6 · 2021: 8 · 2020: 2 · 2019: 8 · 2018: 7 · 2017: 2 · 2016: 1
- FWCI
- 9.45
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- LGBT Health (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › LGBTQ Health, Identity, and Policy
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Survey Methodology and Nonresponse
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Infectious Diseases › HIV/AIDS Research and Interventions
- Keywords
- coming out, gay and bisexual men, HIV status, relationship status
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Age Factors, Bisexuality, Canada, Government, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Probability, Surveys and Questionnaires, Sexual Behavior, Socioeconomic Factors, HIV Infections, Homosexuality, Male, Disclosure
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