USA TODAY International Edition
Gen Z is driving LGBTQ identity
Numbers among adults doubled in recent years
Slightly more than 7% of adults in the United States identify as LGBTQ, and younger generations – particularly those 25 and under – are driving the numbers, a new poll shows.
The Gallup survey of 2022 data also shows that the number of U. S adults who identified as LGBTQ, 7.2%, has more than doubled in a decade: In 2012, Gallup found that 3.5% of U. S. adults said they were LGBTQ. That number surged to 7.1% in 2021 before holding steady last year.
The fact that the numbers stabilized in 2022 after recent dramatic jumps is not unexpected, Gallup Senior Editor Jeff Jones told USA TODAY.
“We’ve seen a doubling, representing a total 3.7- point increase in 10 years,” he said. “At that rate, in most years we would expect to see rather incremental changes. ... If you look at it over time, though, the incremental increases add up to something more substantial.”
A key takeaway from the annual poll in recent years has been the growing presence of Generation Z in embracing new identities – an indicator Jones says is likely to continue. The newest poll was released Wednesday.
“I think the data ( is) clear that LGBTQ identification is highest among the younger generations,” Jones said.
● For Generation Z – those born from 1997 to 2004 – 19.7% identified as LGBTQ in the poll, which was based on aggregated data of 10,000 people.
● Among millennials – those born from 1981 to 1996 – 11.2% identified as LGBTQ. By comparison, 3.3% of Generation X identified as LGBTQ in 2022; for baby boomers, it was 2.7%.
The number of adults who said they were bisexual was also higher in younger generations. About twothirds of LGBTQ members of Gen Z and 62% of LGBTQ millennials identified as bisexual, according to the survey.
Cathy Renna, of the National LGBTQ Task Force, says young people are blazing trails. “Who we are is rooted deeply in us and is something young people – growing up in a culture that has finally been able to tell them that they are aren’t alone, that they are beautiful and perfect exactly as they are – will never turn back from now.”