Report: Gays to
spend $641 billion in 2006

A new report projects that the total buying power of America's gay population this year will be $641 billion--an increase of $30 billion from 2005. Bob Witeck, president of Witeck-Combs Communications, which issued the report, said that research like this is a key reminder of the importance of the LGBT market, both to corporate America and the LGBT population as a whole. "It's a confidence figure in our own population to say that we do matter," Witeck said. "For gays and lesbians in our households, we want to be taken seriously and respectfully. We want to be counted." Witeck attributed the increase in buying power in part to the growing number of people who identify themselves as gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender. However, he added, buying power does not necessarily mean wealth. "We have seen evidence from researchers that gay men may earn slightly less than their heterosexual counterparts," Witeck said. (Sirius OutQ News)