By 2023, more than one in five Gen Z adults identified as LGBTQ+, more than doubling in less than a decade.
Of the 22.3 percent of Gen Zers who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or queer, more than 15 percent identified as bisexual, according to Gallup polling.
Pollsters reported that, overall, every younger generation is about twice as likely the last to identify as LGBTQ+. Compared to the percentage of Gen Z adults, far fewer millennials – one in 10 – say they belong to the LGBTQ+ community.
Psychologists have debated whether this reflects increasing exposure to social media, where teens can be persuaded by influencers to avoid relationships and social norms.
On the other hand, it is possible that young people simply feel more comfortable being themselves and being accepted by friends and family.
LGBTQ+ identification in the US is growing: 7.6 percent of adults now identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or another sexual orientation besides heterosexual
Nearly eight percent of American adults now identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or another sexual orientation besides heterosexual.
The current figure is a jump from 5.6 percent four years ago and 3.5 percent in 2012, the year Gallup first started measuring sexual orientation and trans identity.
Women were more likely than men to report being lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual or queer: 8.5 percent compared to 4.7 percent.
Women were also the most likely to report being bisexual, while men were just as likely to identify as bisexual
Women are almost twice as likely to identify as LGBTQ+: 8.5% versus 4.7%. Bisexuality is the most common form of LGBTQ+ identification among women, while men are just as likely to identify as bisexual or homosexual.
Young adults are driving the rise in LGBTQ+ identification, and the share of those who identify as one is likely to increase in the coming years.
More than one in five Gen Z adults, ranging in age from 18 to 26 in 2023, identify as LGBTQ+, as do nearly one in ten millennials (ages 27 to 42)
According to Gallup, “The generational gaps and trends point to higher rates of LGBTQ+ identification, nationally, in the future.
“If current trends continue, it is likely that the share of LGBTQ+ identifiers will exceed 10% of U.S. adults sometime in the next three decades.”
Older adults, meanwhile, were much less likely to identify as LGBTQ+. While one in ten millennials did so, the percentage dropped to less than five percent of Generation X and two percent of baby boomers.
Gallup said: “Bisexuality is the most common LGBTQ+ status among Gen Z, Millennials and Gen X.
‘In older generations, LGBTQ+ people are more likely, or just as likely, to say they are gay or lesbian than bisexual.’
There are a number of possible explanations for the spike among young people who identify as not straight. One possibility is that Covid lockdowns have boosted teenagers’ use of social media sites like TikTok, where thousands of influencers have enabled youth to eschew conventional views on relationships and what are socially acceptable.
Another is that, thanks to greater public awareness, acceptance and policy progress, young people are more comfortable disclosing their sexual orientation than previous generations.
A 2022 study of the Trevor Projectan organization that advocates for LGBTQ+ rights found that 62 percent of adults would feel comfortable if their child came out to them as lesbian, gay or bisexual, while only 13 percent would not be comfortable at all would feel.
Myeshia Price, PhD, director of research sciences at The Trevor Project, said that young people ‘have increasing access to language, education and representation around LGBTQ people and identities.
She added, “While we still have miles to go as a society, it is important to note that both the understanding and acceptance of LGBTQ people have grown significantly in recent decades.”
At the same time, 72 percent of all adults said they were confident they could understand and support their child if they came out as transgender and/or non-binary.
Amit Paley, CEO and Executive Director of Trevor Project, said: ‘Knowing how important a parent’s love and support is to suicide prevention, it is encouraging to see that a majority of adults express comfort with having LGBTQ kids.”