With all its gay equality laws and gay-friendly cities, you'd think California would have the gayest population by percentage in the nation. Not so, according to a new study from UCLA's Williams Institute. It appears Washington D.C. and eight other states are actually gayer.

According to research done by Williams Institute researcher Gary J. Gates and Gallup editor-in-chief Frank Newport, California ranks as the tenth most gay state in the country. Washington D.C. is number one.

The study of LGBT identification in each state is the largest population-based survey ever conducted in the nation.

In Washington D.C., 10 percent of the population identify as L, G, B, or T. Hawaii places second with 5.15 percent. California takes the tenth spot with 4 percent.

Interesting enough, South Dakota is gayer than California with 4.4 percent — and so is Oregon with 4.9 percent.

For the complete list, check out the full survey.

We were also curious how the gay state breakdown related to the 2012 presidential contest. Guess what? Fifteen out of the top 20 gay states were won by President Barack Obama. Nine out of the top 10 went Obama, too.

The Williams Institute, based in Los Angeles at UCLA, is the country's premiere gay think tank.

Contact Patrick Range McDonald at pmcdonald@laweekly.com.

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