WASHINGTON, D.C. -- LGBTQ+ identification in the U.S. continues to grow, with 7.6% of U.S. adults now identifying as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or some other sexual orientation besides heterosexual. The current figure is up from 5.6% four years ago and 3.5% in 2012, Â鶹´«Ã½AV’s first year of measuring sexual orientation and transgender identity.
These results are based on aggregated data from 2023 Â鶹´«Ã½AV telephone surveys, encompassing interviews with more than 12,000 Americans aged 18 and older. In each survey, Â鶹´«Ã½AV asks respondents whether they identify as heterosexual, lesbian, gay, bisexual, 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 LGBTQ+ adults say they are bisexual. Gay and lesbian 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 LGBTQ+ adults are transgender. The most commonly volunteered LGBTQ+ identities are pansexual and asexual, mentioned by less than 2% of LGBTQ+ adults each.
LGBTQ+ Growth Tied to Higher Identification Among Younger Adults
Increases in LGBTQ+ identification in recent years have occurred as members of Generation Z and the millennial generation have entered adulthood. Adults in these younger generations are far more likely than those in older generations to identify as LGBTQ+.
Overall, each younger generation is about twice as likely as the generation that preceded it to identify as LGBTQ+. More than one in five Gen Z adults, ranging in age from 18 to 26 in 2023, identify as LGBTQ+, as do nearly one in 10 millennials (aged 27 to 42). The percentage drops to less than 5% of Generation X, 2% of baby boomers and 1% of the Silent Generation.
Bisexuality is the most common LGBTQ+ status among Generation Z, millennials and Generation X. Fifteen percent of all Generation Z adults -- representing more than two-thirds of those with an LGBTQ+ identification -- are bisexual.
In the older generations, LGBTQ+ individuals are more likely, or equally as likely, to say they are gay or lesbian than bisexual.
LGBTQ+ Identification More Common Among Women
Women are nearly twice as likely as men to identify as LGBTQ+, 8.5% versus 4.7%. Bisexuality is the most common form of LGBTQ+ identification among women, while men are equally likely to identify as bisexual or gay.
Women are more likely than men to have an LGBTQ+ identification in the three youngest generations, especially in Generation Z and the millennial generation. Close to three in 10 Gen Z women, 28.5%, identify as LGBTQ+, compared with 10.6% of Gen Z men. Among millennials, 12.4% of women and 5.4% of men have an LGBTQ+ identification.
More than one in five Gen Z women identify as bisexual, as do 9% of millennial women. Gen Z men are more likely to identify as bisexual than as gay, while roughly equal proportions of millennial men identify as bisexual or gay. Older generations of LGBTQ+ men are most likely to identify as gay.
The gender differences reported above do not account for the nonbinary population, which represents about 1% of U.S. adults. There are not sufficient cases to provide precise estimates of LGBTQ+ identification among nonbinary Americans for 2023 alone, but combined data from 2022 and 2023 indicate that about 80% of nonbinary adults identify as LGBTQ+, with one-third being bisexual and one-third transgender.
Bottom Line
The percentage of U.S. adults who consider themselves something other than heterosexual has more than doubled since Â鶹´«Ã½AV first asked about sexual orientation and transgender identity in 2012. These changes have been led by younger Americans, with about one in 10 millennials and one in five Gen Z adults having an LGBTQ+ status. The generational differences and trends point to higher rates of LGBTQ+ identification, nationally, in the future. If current trends continue, it is likely that the proportion of LGBTQ+ identifiers will exceed 10% of U.S. adults at some point within the next three decades.
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