The number of Americans identifying as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or queer has continued to rise in the last several years, reaching nearly 8% of the country’s population, according to a Gallup poll released Wednesday.
In 2012, only 3.5% of United States citizens aged 18 years and older identified as LGBTQ and in 2020, the number increased to 5.6%, according to Gallup. As of this year, the number has jumped to 7.6%, with over half of the LGBTQ population identifying as bisexual, at 57.3%, and around 1% of Americans identifying as gay, lesbian or transgender, respectively. (RELATED: Court Upholds Rule Barring Gender Identity On Red State’s Drivers Licenses)
The survey collected results from over 12,000 Americans via telephone surveys in 2023 with a margin of error at -/+ 1%, asking “whether they identify as heterosexual, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or something else.” Less than 1% claimed to be transgender, while pansexual and asexual were at 2% each.
The number of Americans identifying as something other than heterosexual increased the most from 2020 to 2021, going from 5.6% to 7.1%, according to the poll.
ACLU march participants carry signs in support of rights for transgender people during the 2023 LA Pride Parade in Hollywood on June 11, 2023, in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)
Generation Z, born between 1997 and 2012, is also the most common age group to identify as LGBTQ at 22.3%, with Millenials coming in a lagging second at only 9.8%, according to the poll. Only 2.3% of Baby Boomers claimed to identify as LGBTQ, while Generation X reached nearly twice that at 4.5%.
In January, a poll from the Public Religion Research Institute found that one in four Gen Z Americans identified as LGBTQ, while 43% also identified as “liberal,” and the generation is significantly less religious than its predecessors with 33% claiming a non-religious status.
Women were nearly twice as likely as men to identify as being LGBTQ at 8.5% compared to 4.7%, according to the poll. Both were most likely to identify as bisexual at 5.7% and 2.1% for women and men, respectively.
“The percentage of U.S. adults who consider themselves something other than heterosexual has more than doubled since Gallup first asked about sexual orientation and transgender identity in 2012,” Gallup researchers explained. “These changes have been led by younger Americans, with about one in 10 millennials and one in five Gen Z adults having an LGBTQ+ status. The generational differences and trends point to higher rates of LGBTQ+ identification, nationally, in the future. If current trends continue, it is likely that the proportion of LGBTQ+ identifiers will exceed 10% of U.S. adults at some point within the next three decades.”
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