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A record number of American adults now identify as LGBT

Written by gaytourism

There are now a record number of American adults who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender (LGBT).

According to a new Gallup poll, 4.5% of Americans now identify as part of the community. The organization interviewed 340,000 people for this information.

This is up from 4.1% in 2016 and 3.5% in 2012. That was the first year Gallup began polling for this information.

Gallup poll information

Gallup poll information | Photo: Gallup

The number has steadily increased over the last six years.

When the statistic is taken into a broader context, Gallup estimates that more than 11 million adults identify as LGBT in the United States.

Millennials are a driving factor

The increase is mainly attributed to millennials. Gallup defines this generation as those born between 1980 and 1999. From 2016, millennials identifying as LGBT jumped from 7.3% to 8.1%. This near-one-percent jump is the biggest increase of any age group since tracking began.

In 2012, they were at 5.8%.

Other generations have not seen increases like this.

Gallup poll

Statistics by generation | Photo: Gallup

Other traits in identifying as LGBT

Gallup also looked at race, gender, and income in terms of people who identify as LGBT.

‘The LGBT percentage has risen among all race and ethnic groups since 2012, although not on an equal basis,’ they explain.

Hispanics and Asians have seen the most increase. In 2012, 4.3% of Hispanics identified as LGBT and last year, it was up to 6.1%. For Asians, the percentage jumped from 3.5% to 4.9%.

For gender, more women identify as LGBT than men. Last year, 5.1% women identified as part of the community, compared to 3.9%.

Gender and race data

Gender and race data | Photo: Gallup

There are also patterns among income.

As the report states: ‘LGBT identification is more common among those with lower incomes, as has been the case consistently since 2012.’

Furthermore, the income gap is also wider than it has been in the past.

6.2% of people who made less than $36,000 last year identify as LGBT, compared to 3.9% of people making $90,000 or more.

Recently, Gallup released another report revealing more Americans than ever support same-sex marriage. They attributed this increase partly to the increase of people identifying as LGBT.