New data from Gallup revealed that 7.5% of U.S. adults identify as LGBTQ, up from 5.6% four years ago.
In 2012, the first year Gallup collected the data, LGBTQ-identifying U.S. adults made up about 3.5% of the population.
The results are based on 2023 telephone surveys, the conclusions of which were released in March.
The results also suggest that younger generations are almost “twice as likely as the generation that preceded it to identify as LGBTQ+,” according to Gallup. In 2023, more than 1 in 5 Gen Z adults identified as LGBTQ, compared to 1 in 10 millennials.
Gen Z has the greatest percentage of LGBTQ-identifying individuals, with 22.3%. Almost 10% (9.8%) of millennials identify as LGBTQ, 4.5% of Generation X, and 2.3% of baby boomers. Only 1.1% of those born in 1945 or earlier identify as LGBTQ.
“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,” according to the analysis. “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,” it added.
Younger people have also experienced a surge in gender dysphoria.
A 2018 paper by Lisa Littman, from Brown University School of Public Health, suggested that younger individuals are experiencing “rapid-onset gender dysphoria.”
“The onset of gender dysphoria seemed to occur in the context of belonging to a peer group where one, multiple, or even all of the friends have become gender dysphoric and transgender-identified during the same timeframe,” the paper stated.
According to the findings, there may be a correlation between younger generations experiencing gender dysphoria and exposure to the idea through peers, social media, and public pressure.
