Following his return to office, Donald Trump has made it very clear that he advocates for “only two genders.” He has signed a bunch of executive orders against trans people. From banning them from women’s sports to looking to boot trans troops, the president has invited the wrath and fury of the LGBTQ+ community in America. However, despite his efforts, the latest polls are showing that citizens identifying as anything other than cis-gender or heterosexual have nearly doubled in the last four years.
According to the latest survey by Gallup, 9.3% of adult Americans identified as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or something else under the umbrella in 2024. That’s a more than one-point surge from the 2023 poll and nearly double from a 2020 survey. More surprisingly, the recent numbers are at least a 3.5% increase since Gallup first conducted an LGBTQ+ survey in 2012.
It has been reported that an estimated 14,000 people participated in a phone survey and responded with their chosen identities. They were asked to select from but not limited to Straight or heterosexual, transgender, gay, lesbian, or bisexual. 85.7% of respondents selected straight, while 5.2% are bisexual. On the other hand, 2.0% identify as gay, and 1.4% came out as lesbian. Meanwhile, 1.3% identify as transgender, while 1% respond under other identities such as but not limited to pansexual, asexual, or queer. Lastly, 5% of participants refrained from selecting any on the poll.
Further dissecting the numbers, Gallup found the reason behind the increasing response. In the last few years, the younger generations in America have entered adulthood. Today’s youth is more likely to openly identify or socially come out as anything other than heterosexual in comparison with the older generations. It is to be noted that today’s young adult generations, defined as millennials and Gen Z, both grew up with the expansion of LGBTQ+ representation in the culture. The concepts of marriage equality also evolved in the last few years, while more public figures came out as their chosen identity, influencing others.
Gallup survey finds Americans identify as LGBTQ+ than ever before.
Up to 9.3% pic.twitter.com/hmN56V2oyK
— Politics & Poll Tracker 📡 (@PollTracker2024) February 20, 2025
According to the survey, at least one in five Gen Z Americans who were born between 1997 and 2006 identify as LGBTQ+. Meanwhile, the numbers plummet with each older generation. As the graph moves from millennials to the Silent Generation, fewer people identify as something other than straight, with only 1.8% among the oldest people born before 1946.
Meanwhile, more than 59% of Gen Z adults aged between 18 and 27 identify as bisexual, while more than 52% of millennials join. From Gallup’s last year’s interview, more than half of 900 LGBTQ+ individuals called themselves bisexual, while 21% are gay, 15% selected lesbian, 14% identified as transgender and 6% others. Notably, the total figure exceeds 100% as the poll allows response from one person with different LGBTQ+ identities. However, the overall estimate that 9.3% of adult Americans identify as LGBTQ+ is counted by only one response per person.
New polling from Gallup out today:
9.3% of Americans identify as LGBTQ, up from 7.6% last year and 3.7% a decade ago.
23% of Gen Z Americans say they are LGBTQ. 14% of millennials identify as LGBTQ.
56% of LGBTQ Americans are bisexual, 21% gay, 15% lesbian and 14% trans.
— Ryan Struyk (@ryanstruyk) February 20, 2025
The survey also focuses on areas of politics, sex, and geography. 14% of Democrats and 11% of independents are more likely to identify as LGBTQ+ than Republicans who are only 3%. Meanwhile, the chances are highest in urban areas (11%), while it’s 10% in suburbs and 7% in rural. In addition, the poll revealed that while 31% of Gen Z women identify as LGBTQ+, it is only 12% of men from the same generation. Notably, most of these women identify as bisexual.
