Gen Z Less Likely to Identify as Religious, Republican, More Likely to Identify as LGBTQ: Poll

Adults in Generation Z are less likely to identify with established religion and the Republican Party, but are more likely to identify as a member of the LGBTQ+ community, a poll by Public Religion Research Institute and reported by Axios found.

Members of Generation Z were born between 1997 and 2012 and are reportedly the most racially and ethnically diverse generation in history, according to Axios.

The poll found that 36% of Gen Z adults consider themselves Democrats, while only 21% consider themselves Republicans. While about 30% of them identify as Independents, more than half of voting age members of Generation Z don’t ascribe to a major party, but most identify with the party of their parents.

When it comes to religion, adults in Generation Z are less likely to be White Christians than baby boomers, 27% to 54%, respectively. The generation is also reportedly more religiously unaffiliated at 33% than other generations, aside from millennials.

Twenty-eight percent of Generation Z identifies as LGBTQ+ compared with 16% of millennials who were born between 1981 and 1996, and 7% Generation X who were born between 1965 and 1980.

“Clearly, Gen Z does not like to be labeled, and they’re not necessarily wanting to hang their hat with a particular political party these days,” PRRI CEO Melissa Deckman told Axios.

The poll was conducted by PRRI from Aug. 21-Sept. 15 of 6,014 individuals. The margin of error is plus or minus 1.58 percentage points.