Current:Home > NewsPortion of US adults identifying as LGBTQ has more than doubled in last 12 years-LoTradeCoin
Portion of US adults identifying as LGBTQ has more than doubled in last 12 years
View Date:2024-12-23 15:49:53
The portion of U.S. adults who identify as other than heterosexual has more than doubled since 2012, a Gallup poll has found, with young people leading the way — from Generation Z through the Silent Generation, each younger group is about twice as likely as the one before it to identify as LGBTQ+.
About 7.6% of U.S. adults now identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or as something other than heterosexual, the poll found. That’s compared to 5.6% four years ago and 3.5% in 2012, the year the national polling agency began measuring sexual orientation and transgender identity.
Should current trends continue, the authors said, the share of LGBTQ+ adults in the U.S. will exceed 10% within the next 30 years.
Brandon Robinson, an associate professor and department chair of gender and sexuality studies at the University of California-Riverside, said the growing numbers show that people sense greater societal acceptance and/or support systems for those who identify as LGBTQ.
"More people identifying as LGBTQ is often a sign that more people feel safe and/or comfortable to openly claim an LGBTQ identity," they said.
The data is based on telephone surveys with more than 12,000 U.S. adults conducted in 2023. Asked whether they identified as heterosexual, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or something else, 85.6% of individuals said they identified as straight or heterosexual, while 6.8% declined to respond.
About one in eight LGBTQ+ adults are transgender, the poll found.
Bisexual adults represented the largest group among LGBTQ+ people, comprising more than 57% of LGBTQ+ individuals and 4.4% of U.S. adults overall. Gays and lesbians each represent just over 1% of U.S. adults, while transgender individuals were slightly less than 1%.
What does gender-expansive mean?Oklahoma teen's death puts identity in spotlight.
LGBTQ representation climbs as youths age into adulthood
The portion of U.S. adults identifying as LGBTQ+ has climbed in recent years as millennials and members of Generation Z age into adulthood.
More than one in five Gen Z adults (ages 18 to 26) identifies as LGBTQ+, as do nearly one in 10 millennials (ages 27 to 42). The percentage falls to less than 5% of Generation X, 2% of Baby Boomers and 1% of the Silent Generation.
"As younger generations are growing up with more LGBTQ representation and arguably more acceptance of LGBTQ people, it makes sense that they are also more comfortable to openly claim their LGBTQ identity," Robinson said.
About 8.5% of women identified as LGBTQ+, compared to 4.7% of men. Those differences were more pronounced among younger generations, with the ratio of women to men identifying as LGBTQ+ more than twofold among millennials (12.4% to 5.4%) and almost three times as high among Gen Z (28% to 10.6%).
Robinson said it’s not surprising that more women than men say they are LGBTQ.
“Masculinity is often associated with heterosexuality, so there is often more stigma, or more to lose, for men to identify as LGBTQ,” they said.
'Trend is actually about larger society changing'
The poll found that bisexuality was the most common form of LGBTQ+ identification among women; men were equally likely to say they were gay or bisexual.
Older generations of older LGBTQ+ men were most likely to say they were gay.
Robinson said the rising numbers don’t mean that queer desires are on the rise or that more people are transgender. Rather, it’s more about feeling safe to declare one’s identity.
"This trend is actually about larger society changing and more people feeling comfortable in stating their LGBTQ identity, Robinson said.
veryGood! (2)
Related
- Subway rider who helped restrain man in NYC chokehold death says he wanted ex-Marine to ‘let go’
- How Timothée Chalamet Helped Make 4 Greta Gerwig Fans' Night
- Man suspected of shooting and injuring Dallas-area doctor was then shot and injured by police
- Rival Koreas mark armistice anniversary in two different ways that highlight rising tensions
- West Virginia governor-elect Morrisey to be sworn in mid-January
- The heat island effect traps cities in domes of extreme temperatures. Experts only expect it to get worse.
- Chris Eubanks finds newfound fame after Wimbledon run. Can he stay hot ahead of US Open?
- Samsung unveils foldable smartphones in a bet on bending device screens
- Get well, Pop. The Spurs are in great hands until your return
- Families sue to block Missouri’s ban on gender-affirming health care for kids
Ranking
- 'The Penguin' spoilers! Colin Farrell spills on that 'dark' finale episode
- 'A great man': Chicago Blackhawks owner Rocky Wirtz dies at age 70
- Greece remains on 'high alert' for wildfires as heat wave continues
- Women’s World Cup rematch pits United States against ailing Dutch squad
- Daniele Rustioni to become Metropolitan Opera’s principal guest conductor
- WATCH: Sea lions charge at tourists on San Diego beach
- Chargers, QB Justin Herbert agree to 5-year extension worth $262.5 million, AP source says
- A hung jury means a Georgia man jailed for 10 years must wait longer for a verdict on murder charges
Recommendation
-
AI could help scale humanitarian responses. But it could also have big downsides
-
Golden Fire in southern Oregon burns dozens of homes and cuts 911 service
-
Domestic EV battery production is surging ahead, thanks to small clause in Inflation Reduction Act
-
Vanderpump Rules' Scheana Shay Details Filming Emotionally Draining Convo With Tom Sandoval
-
Suicides in the US military increased in 2023, continuing a long-term trend
-
Michael Jackson sexual abuse lawsuits on verge of revival by appeals court
-
Wildfires that killed at least 34 in Algeria are now 80% extinguished, officials say
-
How artificial intelligence can be used to help the environment