New Study Says Record Number of US Adults Identify as LGBT

A record 4.5 percent of American adults identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender, according to a new Gallup estimate. The percentage, which works out to more than 11 million U.S. adults, is up from 4.1 percent in 2016 and 3.5 percent in 2012, the year Gallup first started tracking LGBT identification.

The increase was driven primarily by millennials, defined as those born between 1980 and 1999, according to the report’s findings. In 2012, 5.8 percent of this cohort answered “yes” when asked, "Do you, personally, identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender?” In the 2017 estimate, that numbered jumped 40 percent to 8.2 percent of millennials.

In contrast, Gallup found the LGBT-identification rate of older generations is steady. In this latest survey, 3.5 percent of Generation X respondents (those born between 1965 and 1979) identified as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender; 2.4 percent of baby boomers (born between 1946 and 1964); and 1.4 percent of traditionalists (born prior to 1946).

Click here to read more. 

Contact Us