Use of a telephone screener to identify a probability sample of gays, lesbians, and bisexuals

OBJECTIVES: To examine public response to a telephone screener used to identify a probability sample of lesbians, gays, and bisexuals. METHODS: A telephone screener was designed to provide a representative sample of self-identified lesbians, gays, and bisexuals (LGB) in the 30 central cities of the 15 largest Consolidated Metropolitan Areas. RESULTS: Of 14,458 households contacted, 11,612 completed at least part of the survey. Of these, only 2.6% refused or responded "don't know" to the sexual orientation screener question. Respondents from the northeast were more reluctant to answer than respondents from the west. CONCLUSIONS: The use of a screener on a national telephone survey to screen households for self-identified lesbian, gay, and bisexual adults was a successful way to generate a representative sample.