Americans who identify as LGBT have nearly tripled in 12 years to record high: Gallup

The percentage of American adults who identify as “something other than heterosexual” continues to soar to record highs, especially among younger generations, according to a Gallup study released Thursday.

Twenty-three percent — one in five — of Generation Z Americans, or those born between 1997-2006, identified as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender, the study found.

Among millennials, or those born between 1981-1996, that number was 14.2%.

Both younger generations indicated a sharp increase in LGBT identification compared to older ones, with Generation X reporting 5.1%, baby boomers at 3% and those born before 1946 reporting just 1.8%.

The most recent findings come from phone interviews conducted in 2024 with more than 14,000 adults aged 18 and over. During the interviews, participants were asked to identify as straight or heterosexual, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or another identity.

About 9.3% of U.S. adults identified as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or something other than heterosexual in 2024. The current figure has nearly doubled since 2020 and far surpasses the rate of 3.5% in 2012, when Gallup first began measuring sexual orientation and gender identity.

According to the results, 85.7% identified as straight, 5.2% as bisexual, 2.0% as gay, 1.4% as lesbian and 1.3% as transgender. Fewer than 1% identified with another LGBT label, such as pansexual, asexual or queer. Five percent of respondents chose not to answer the question.

Those identifying with an LGBT identity were more likely to be female, liberal, white and urban, the study also found, with 21% of them claiming to be liberal, compared to 8% as moderates and 3% as conservatives.

Politically, 14% identified as Democrats, while only 3% were Republican and 11% were independents.

Women were nearly twice as likely as men to assume an LGBT label; among Gen Z women, 31% did, but only 12% of men. Gallup attributed such a factor to the fact that women were more likely to identify as bisexual compared to men.

The rate of LGBT identification has nearly tripled in the 12 years they have been tracking such information, including increasing numbers of Americans in their teens, 20s and 30s are claiming to be bisexual, especially women.

“But younger adults are also more likely than older adults to identify as lesbian, gay, transgender or other nonheterosexual orientations. The rate of LGBTQ+ identification is likely to continue to grow, given the generational shifts underway,” Gallup said.

The political issues surrounding sexual orientation and gender identity have become front and center in the first weeks of the new Trump administration.

President Donald Trump and his administration have enacted policies that recognize only two biological sexes,oppose transgender procedures for minors, want men banned from women’s sports and prevent transgender-identifying people from serving openly in the military.