The number of American adults identifying as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or some other sexual orientation besides heterosexual (LGBTQ+) climbed from 5.6 percent in 2019 to 7.6 percent in 2023, according to the latest numbers from Gallup.
Since the analytics firm started tracking transgender identity and sexual orientation in the United States in 2012, when the percentage of Americans who identify as LGBTQ+ was 3.5%, the increase has continued. The first year the number passed 4 percentage was 2016, when it was reported at 4.1 percentage.
Since then, it has continued growing. In 2023, 7.6 percentage of U. S. parents identified as LGBTQ+, according to Gallup—meaning that it has more than doubled since 2012. A majority identified as bisexual (57.3 percent of LGBTQ+ adults as well as 4.4 percent of U. S. adults), followed by gay (1.4 percent of U. S. adults) and lesbian (1.2 percent of U. S. adults). Less than 1 percent (0.9) of U. S. adults are transgender.
The results were obtained by aggregating information from 2023 Gallup telephone polls, which involved more than 12,000 Americans age 18 and older.
A whopping 85.6 percent of people identified as directly, and 6.8 percent of those declined to comment on their masculinity.
Generation Y, Millennials, and Gen Z have a common link to the increase in LGBTQ+ Americans, and their unique conceptions of gender and identity.
According to Gallup, more than one in five Gen Z people identify as LGBTQ+, while one in 10 teenagers do. Gen Zers were born between 1997 and 2012, while youngsters were born between 1981 and 1996.
According to Gallup, each technology has half as many chances of identifying as LGBTQ+ as the generation before. Less than 5 percent of Gen Xers (born between 1965 and 1980) identify as LGBTQ+, while the number goes down to 2 percent among baby boomers (born between 1946 and 1964) and 1 percent among the Silent Generation (born between 1928 and 1945).
In the past couple of years, the action to understand LGBTQ+ freedom has made significant strides, allowing more people to come out and examine their identities without fear. Despite recent backlash against transgender people caused by conservatives and hardline Republicans, the number of LGBTQ+ people in the United States has steadily increased.
In May 2023, a majority of 71 percent of Americans believed that same- sex marriage should be recognized by the law as valid, according to Gallup, against 28 percent who said it shouldn’t. According to data from 2021, 79 percent of Americans believed that gay or lesbian relationships between adult consenting adults should be permitted.
When it came to trans rights, however, Americans were a little less supportive. In May 2023, 53% of Gallup poll respondents declared it was wrong for someone to change gender, compared to 43% who said it was morally acceptable.
