Want A Wedding Ring? Buy an iPhone

[+ stevenkesslar]

Pretty amazing chart. 90 % of same-sex couples met online or at a bar. Not only is gay marriage changing at warp speed - so is how we meet. Family, co-workers, neighbors, church, even friends - forget it.

 

It's all online, or on tap.

 

[mike carey]

Not surprising really, given the historical invisibility of LGBTI people, and the small percentage of the population we make up. The internet, and bars to some extent, allow us to badge ourselves as being gay, so that is something of an icebreaker. Opposite sex attracted people don't need that opportunity to badge themselves, but even they are meeting on-line in over 20% of cases, and the same percentage as same sex couples meet in bars.

 

The public acceptance, or at least the willingness to be open about who they are, of LGBTI people is increasing, and hopefully will continue to do so. It will be interesting to see, over the next 10 years, if the off-line meet-ups increase, things like Jewish grandmothers finding a nice boy for their grandsons.

[+ Charlie]

What is the source of these statistics? I would like to know more about how they were collected. For instance, how many people were online at all in 1990?

 

For the record, my spouse and I did not meet in any of the ways categorized here (we happened to have rooms next to one another at a vacation resort).

[mike carey]

For the record, my spouse and I did not meet in any of the ways categorized here (we happened to have rooms next to one another at a vacation resort).

I suspect that there has been some sort of survey (I am amazed that someone has been doing that for so long). Some of it could have been retrospective surveys (when did you meet, and how). In any survey there is a limit to how many options can be offered. If I had been you Charlie and was asked how I met (given the options in the data set) I would have picked bar/restaurant if 'other' was not an option.

[+ stevenkesslar]

What is the source of these statistics? I would like to know more about how they were collected. For instance, how many people were online at all in 1990?

 

Research by Stanford U Professor Michael J. Rosenfeld as reported in June 15 TIME Magazine. I think the research is a few year's old.

[mike carey]

I think the research is a few year's old.

The data do end at 2010, so that's a hint at its currency. Doesn't detract from its validity though.

 

I was intrigued by the up-tick of hetero meetings on line in 1982-3. Could it have been the first time some university computers were linked? If so it also implies that there were some female computer nerds in the early 80s.

[Rudynate]

I have a "San Francisco" bias, always forgetting that San Francisco is 49 square miles surrounded by reality. Here, because almost everyone is openly gay, there are opportunities for people to meet besides in bars and online, because gay people turn up everywhere - in the boardroom, fixing your leaky faucet, drafting the lease for your rental property, taking your money at the pet store when you're buying catfood, etc. etc. A mutual friend introduced my partner and me, at Pride weekend, as a matter of fact, and then we started chatting each other up at the gym. Our first date was on Columbus Day of 1992.