Gallup poll lgbtq by generation
LGBTQ+ Identification in U.S. Rises to 9.3%
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Gallup’s latest update on LGBTQ+ identification finds 9.3% of U.S. adults naming as lesbian, gay, multi-attracted , transgender or something other than heterosexual in 2024. This represents an multiply of more than a percentage point versus the prior estimate, from 2023. Longer term, the figure has nearly doubled since 2020 and is up from 3.5% in 2012, when Gallup first measured it.
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LGBTQ+ identification is increasing as younger generations of Americans enter adulthood and are much more likely than older generations to say they are something other than heterosexual. More than one in five Gen Z adults -- those born between 1997 and 2006, who were between the ages of 18 and 27 in 2024 -- identify as LGBTQ+. Each older generation of adults, from millennials to the Silent Generation, has successively lower rates of identification, down to 1.8% among the oldest Americans, those born before 1946.
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LGBTQ+ identification rates among young people have also increased, from an average 18.8% of Gen Z adults in 2020 through 2022 to an average of 22.7% over the past two years.
Gallup has
LGBT Identification in U.S. Ticks Up to 7.1%
Story Highlights
- LGBT identification up from 5.6% in 2020
- One in five Gen Z adults name as LGBT
- Bisexual identification is most common
Learn more in Gallup’s 2024 LGBTQ+ update.
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The percentage of U.S. adults who self-identify as lesbian, same-sex attracted, bisexual, transgender or something other than heterosexual has increased to a modern high of 7.1%, which is double the percentage from 2012, when Gallup first measured it.
Gallup asks Americans whether they personally identify as straight or heterosexual, lesbian, gay, bisexual person, or transgender as part of the demographic facts it collects on all U.S. telephone surveys. Respondents can also volunteer any other sexual orientation or gender identity they opt favor. In addition to the 7.1% of U.S. adults who consider themselves to be an LGBT culture, 86.3% say they are straight or heterosexual, and 6.6% do not give an opinion. The results are based on aggregated 2021 data, encompassing interviews with more than 12,000 U.S. adults.
Line graph. Americans' Self-Identification as Lesbian, Queer , Bisexual, Transgender or Something Other than Heterosexual.
U.S. LGBT Identification Constant at 7.2%
Story Highlights
- LGBT identification leveled off in 2022 after increasing in prior years
- Most LGBT individuals say they are bisexual
- LGBT identification most common among juvenile adults
Learn more in Gallup’s 2024 Diverse update.
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- After showing perceptible increases in 2020 and 2021, U.S. adults’ identification as lesbian, gay, bisexual person, transgender or something other than heterosexual held steady in 2022, at 7.2%. The current percentage is double what it was when Gallup first measured LGBT identification a decade ago.
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The statistics are based on aggregated polling facts from 2022 Gallup telephone surveys, encompassing interviews with over 10,000 U.S. adults. In each survey, Gallup asks respondents if they name as lesbian, queer , bisexual, transgender or something else, allowing them to select multiple identities.
In addition to the 7% identifying as LGBT, 86% of U.S. adults say they are straight or heterosexual, while 7% chose not to answer the question.
As is typically the case, the greatest share of LBGT adults -- more than half, or 4.2% of all U.S. adults -- identify as bisexual person.
LGBTQ+ Identification in U.S. Now at 7.6%
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- LGBTQ+ identification in the U.S. continues to increase, with 7.6% of U.S. adults now identifying as lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer or some other sexual orientation besides heterosexual. The current figure is up from 5.6% four years ago and 3.5% in 2012, Gallup’s first year of measuring sexual orientation and transgender identity.
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These results are based on aggregated data from 2023 Gallup telephone surveys, encompassing interviews with more than 12,000 Americans aged 18 and older. In each survey, Gallup asks respondents whether they identify as heterosexual, lesbian, gay, pansexual, transgender or something else. Overall, 85.6% say they are straight or heterosexual, 7.6% identify with one or more LGBTQ+ groups, and 6.8% decline to respond.
Bisexual adults make up the largest proportion of the LGBTQ+ population -- 4.4% of U.S. adults and 57.3% of Homosexual adults say they are bisexual. Gay and sapphic are the next-most-common identities, each representing slightly over 1% of U.S. adults and roughly one in six LGBTQ+ adults. Slightly less than 1% of U.S. adults and about one in eight LGBT
Almost 10% of Americans identify as Diverse, largely bisexual
Almost 10% of Americans recognize as something other than heterosexual, according to more than 14,000 interviews conducted by Gallup over the course of 2024.
"The number has been increasing over time," said Gallup senior editor Jeff Jones. "When we first asked about it in 2012 it was in the 3% range."
Newly released figures for 2024 show it's now 9.3%. The rise is largely driven by younger adults increasingly detecting as lesbian, same-sex attracted, bisexual or transsexual , with the higher numbers of people calling themselves bisexual.
"I don't think there's a single retort for why," said Jody Herman, a senior scholar at the University of California, Los Angeles Williams Institute, which conducts independent investigate on sexual orientation and gender self law and widespread policy.
"It's probably a variety of things. Obviously social acceptance has changed over time, as adequately as awareness and education on LGBTQ identity and being alive, which might lower social taboos keeping older generations from disclosing."
The Gallup numbers are consistent with international surveys in wealthy nations.
Ipsos Global polls for 2024 found