February 25, 2021
New Poll: More Americans Identify as LGBT Than Ever Before
Kevin Schattenkirk READ TIME: 2 MIN.
More adults than ever before identify as LGBT according to a new poll, ABC reports.
The Gallup poll released on Wednesday shows that, in the U.S., 5.6 percent of adults identify as LGBT. That is an increase from Gallup's 2017 data, which indicated 4.5 percent. The company began tracking this data in 2012, with that number at 3.5 percent.
In the past, Gallup offered only "yes" or "no" responses to the question of whether one identifies as LGBT. However, in this latest poll, Gallup allowed for more specificity in responses. As a result, over half of LGBT adults (at 54.6 percent) identify as bisexual. Just under a quarter (at 24.5 percent) identify as gay, 11.7 percent as lesbian, and 11.3 percent as transgender.
Participants were also allowed to self-identify with other non-heterosexual terms such as queer, pansexual, and more. Participants were allowed to provide multiple responses, which brought the total over the 100 percent mark.
Generation Z – those born between 1997 and 2002 – ranked at 15.9 percent, the highest percentage of those identifying as LGBT. Seventy-two percent of Gen Z LGBT adults identify as bisexual, which would mean 11.5 percent of those Gen Z adult respondents are bisexual.
By comparison, 9.1 percent of millennials (born 1981-1996), 3.8 percent of Generation X (1965-1980), 2 percent of baby boomers (1946-1964), and 1.3 percent of traditionalists (born before 1946) identify as LGBT.
Gallup said, "One of the main reasons LGBT identification has been increasing over time is that younger generations are far more likely to consider themselves to be something other than heterosexual."
That could also be because of progress toward expanded LGBT rights since 2009 – with hate crimes legislation and the repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell signed into law by President Obama in 2009 and 2011, respectively, and the SCOTUS ruling for marriage equality in 2015 with Obergefell v. Hodges. Today, the House of Representatives voted for a further expansion of protections for LGBT people with the Equality Act.
