A Diverse, More Visible Gay and Lesbian Marketplace.

The gay and lesbian market is a market in transition – or, perhaps, a market in maturation, according to “The U.S. Gay and Lesbian Market,” a new report from market research publisher Packaged Facts. Written in collaboration with Witeck-Combs Communications, Inc., a leading PR and marketing communications firm with special expertise on the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community, the report highlights the diversity within the gay and lesbian population – families, seniors, people of color – and the new sophistication with which marketers might address this demographic, whose buying power is projected to reach $610 billion in 2005.

This new Packaged Facts report indicates that at least 2 million gays are approaching or have already reached retirement age. By 2020, some 5.7 million, or 25% of the gay community, will be 50 or older. The report also projects that Packaged Facts estimates that there are 1.8 million gay and lesbian households with children, and there are approximately 2.6 million children living with gay parents. The report also examines Census data on same-sex households as well as comparative research on single gay men and lesbians to conclude that race and ethnicity among the GLBT population appears to mirror the general U.S. population.

“To paraphrase Rep. Barney Frank, the gay and lesbian population has become ‘boring,'” said Don Montuori, Acquisitions Editor for Packaged Facts. “The charged debate surrounding gay marriage underscores a closer examination of the gay and lesbian population, one that displays greater complexity, and a consistent ‘mainstreaming’ of gay men and lesbians, where day care and taxes and retirement accounts occupy as much a priority role as travel, fashion and home décor once did.”

“Gay households should never be over-simplified,” added Bob Witeck, CEO of Witeck-Combs Communications. “Growing trends of acceptance and respect throughout society make it possible – even essential — for more gays and lesbians to safely self-identify and to vote not only with their ballots but also with their dollars in the market. Our findings reveal new levels of sophistication and rising expectations about gay consumers that will prove invaluable to many companies entering this market.”

For more information at http://www.packagedfacts.com