Percentage has doubled over the past 10 years as 21% of ‘Gen Z’ Americans identify as LGBTQ+
The percentage of adults in the US who identify as LGBTQ+ has doubled over the past 10 years, a Gallup study has found. According to poll results released this week, a record 7.1% of American adults identify as LGBTQ+, jumping from 3.5% in 2012.
“The increase in LGBT identification in recent years largely reflects the higher prevalence of such identities among the youngest US adults compared with the older generations they are replacing in the US adult population,” Gallup noted of the poll, which was conducted in 2021 on 12,416 American adults.
The poll also found that 21% of Generation-Z Americans – those born between 1997 and 2003 – who have reached adulthood identify as LGBTQ, more than double the proportion of millennial adults who do so.
Among millennials – those born between 1981 and 1996 – 10.5% identify as LGBTQ+. This marks a modest 4.7% increase from 2012, when some members of the generation had not yet turned 18.
The percentages are even smaller among Generation X, baby boomers and “traditionalists” – all below 10%. Only 4.2% of Generation X adults, who are between 42 and 57, identify as LGBTQ. 2.6% of baby boomers, who are between 58 and 76, identify as LGBTQ. Lastly, among traditionalist adults – those born before 1946 – only 0.8% identify as LGBTQ+.
Those percentages have more or less remained unchanged since Gallup started measuring LGBTQ+ identification in 2012.
In addition, the poll found that more than half of LGBTQ+ Americans, 57%, identify as bisexual, making up 4% of the total US adult population. Twenty-one per cent of LGBTQ+ Americans identify as gay, 14% lesbian, 10% transgender and 4% something else.
Nearly one in six Gen Z adults, or 15%, identify as bisexual. Meanwhile, 6% of millennials and 2% of Gen Xers say they are bisexual. The percentages of those who identify as bisexual among Generation X, baby boomers and traditionalists fall below 2%.
According to the study, women, 6%, are more likely than men, 2%, to indicate that they are bisexual. Men are more likely to identify as gay, 2.5%, than bisexual.
Gallup predicts that with one in 10 millennials and one in five Gen-Z members identifying as LGBTQ+, the proportion of LGBTQ+ American adults should exceed 10% in the near future.
“These young adults [Generation Z] are coming of age, including coming to terms with their sexuality or gender identity, at a time when Americans increasingly accept gays, lesbians and transgender people, and LGBT individuals enjoy increasing legal protection against discrimination,” Gallup said.
According to Gallup, 70% of Americans are currently in support of same-sex marriage, marking a steep increase from 1996, when only 27% of Americans supported it.
Ten tekst powstał w ramach projektu „Biznes sojuszniczy – firmy przyjazne osobom LGBTQ” finansowanego przez Islandię, Liechtenstein i Norwegię z Funduszy EOG w ramach Programu Aktywni Obywatele – Fundusz Regionalny.