Lesbian Speed Dating

The Williams Institute, a subsidy, or more properly, a "think tank" of UCLA's School of Law, was commissioned in 2011 for $2.5 million, making it the largest donation in history for an academic institution specifically devoted to the study of gay and lesbian disciplines.  Their studies into the aggregate numbers will serve as the basis for this article, as well as the gay and transgender articles.

For women, the study approximated 4 million females in the United States population identified themselves as having recent or continual same-sex relations.   Taken from about half the polation (a little over 150 million women), this accounted for 3.4%.  2.64 million (2.2%) of these women were identified as lesbians, and 1.36 million(1.1%) identified as bi-sexual.  As is the case with aggregating any numbers for LGBT demographics, the inherent margin of error existed in the inability or unwillingness of a percentage of the population to publically identify their sexual orientation.  The difficulty in classifying gay women is also muddled by the fact that a great number of women can participate in same-sex activities, such amorous kissing with close friends and sexual exhibitions exclusive of a third party in a threesome, without being considered or identifying themselves as lesbian.  It could be said that a double standard exists where a woman can engage in numerous same-sex and opposite liasons and not be a lesbian or bisexual, but a man who engages in the same behavior is considered bisexual.  This could be a result of the public's perception of masculinity versus femininity, as women are generally expected to be more comfortable being non-sexually intimate with their close friends.  It is also noteworthy that a much larger larger percentage of women (nearly 2 to 1) were identified as bisexual as opposed to lesbian compared to men, whose numbers were the opposite.

Civil unions were legalized in the US state of Vermont in the year 2000, and it was Carolyn Conrad and Kathleen Peterson who became the first lesbian couple to become legally joined, though a civil union does not carry the same entitlements as a marriage.  In 2004, Del Martin and Phyllis Louise became the same-sex couple to be legally married, and after having their marriage annulled by legal politics, were remarried in 2007.  Since then, many other cities and states have adopted same-sex marriage as a legally binding union, and there is considerable political discourse in many more. Notable figures like hostess Rachel Maddow, comediennes Wanda Sykes and Ellen Degeners, and actress Jane Lynch are openly lesbian, and recently younger stars like Ellen Page have surfaced in light of a more tolerable society.

In the context of speed dating and online dating, lesbian dating is generally no different than what would be considered"straight" dating. The same rules of enagagement apply during speed dating events, with the exception that many of the practices that consider the gender of the participants, such as allowing the woman to sit while the men exchange tables, are bypassed are bypassed in favor of a more egalitarian system. 

Reference

http://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/Gates-How-Many-People-LGBT-Apr-2011.pdf
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_lesbianism_in_the_United_States