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.
The increase has been ongoing since the analytics company started measuring sexual orientation and transgender identity in the U.S. in 2012, when the number of Americans identifying as LGBTQ+ was 3.5 percent. The first year the number passed 4 percent was 2016, when it was reported at 4.1 percent.
Since then, it has continued growing. In 2023, 7.6 percent of U.S. adults 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 data from 2023 Gallup telephone surveys, which involved more than 12,000 Americans age 18 and older.
An overwhelming majority of 85.6 percent of people identified as straight, while 6.8 percent declined to respond to the question about their sexuality.
The growth in the number of LGBTQ+ Americans is generally linked to the younger generations, millennials and Gen Z, and their different approach to sexuality and identity.
According to Gallup, more than one in five Gen Z adults identify as LGBTQ+, while one in 10 millennials do. Gen Zers were born between 1997 and 2012, while millennials were born between 1981 and 1996.
Gallup found that each generation is twice as likely as the generation before to identify as LGBTQ+. 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).
Gay Pride flags fly at a protest rally opposing the City of Hamtramck’s recent resolution banning the flying of LGBTQ+ flags, political flags and flags symbolizing any race or religion on city property, at City…
Gay Pride flags fly at a protest rally opposing the City of Hamtramck’s recent resolution banning the flying of LGBTQ+ flags, political flags and flags symbolizing any race or religion on city property, at City Hall on June 24, 2023, in Hamtramck, Michigan. The number of American adults identifying as LGBTQ+ grew from 3.5 percent in 2012 to 7.6 percent in 2023.
Bill Pugliano/Getty Images
The movement to recognize LGBTQ+ rights has made massive advances in the past couple of decades, allowing more people to safely come out and explore their identity. Despite a recent backlash against transgender individuals driven by conservatives and hardline Republicans, social acceptance of LGBTQ+ people has steadily increased among the U.S. population.
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. As per 2021 data, 79 percent of Americans thought that gay or lesbian relations between consenting adults should be legal.
When it came to trans rights, however, Americans were a little less supportive. In May 2023, 55 percent of respondents to the Gallup survey said that it was morally wrong for an individual to change gender, while 43 percent said they found it morally acceptable.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
