Gays and lesbians who read the nation’s top gay newspapers are more socially outgoing, travel more frequently, and are more concerned about health and fitness than the general U.S. adult population, according to a new reader survey conducted on behalf of the National Gay Newspaper Guild by Harris Interactive. 

Further comparison shows that compared to the general population, gay and lesbian newspaper readers are twice as likely to own an iPod; half as likely to own a Chevrolet or Buick vehicle, but more than twice as likely to own a Honda; more likely to have rented a car in the past year; and are three times more likely to have a personal trainer.

“The Guild’s survey provides invaluable demographic information about a highly targeted cross-section of readers from the nation’s leading gay and lesbian publications,” says Todd Evans, CEO of Rivendell Media.

In addition to an affinity for the iPod (17 percent gays, lesbians vs. 8 percent general population), gay and lesbian respondents in the guild survey also proved to be heavily into gadgets and the latest technology. Those that have Internet access at home are more likely than the average U.S. adult to have broadband (66 vs. 57 percent) and guild readers are almost twice as likely to own a PDA or Personal Digital Assistant (25 percent vs. 13 percent).

The surveyed gays and lesbians had more than twice as many college degrees as the average U.S. adult (67 percent vs. 25 percent); three times as likely to belong to a health club (51 percent vs. 17 percent); and more likely to consume champagne (30 vs. 12 percent) and imported wine (43 percent vs. 19 percent) but also more likely to consumer domestic beer (76 percent vs. 72 percent).

Gay and lesbians in the poll tend to host parties at home with a clear preference for dinner parties (12 percent vs. 5 percent) and cocktail parties (10 percent vs. 2 percent) over cook-outs (7 percent vs. 8 percent). When it comes to dining out, the gay and lesbian in the survey were twice as likely to have dined out more than 10 times in the past 30 days (48 percent vs. 25 percent).

Nearly nine in ten surveyed gays and lesbians have traveled within the United Sates in the past year compared to seven in ten U.S. adults (87 percent vs. 70 percent) and were almost twice as like to have taken a trip outside the United States in the past three years (58 percent vs. 28 percent).