What’s Behind the Rapid Rise in LGBTQ Identity?
Daniel A. Cox, Jae Grace, lesbians Avery Shields
Since 2012, Gallup has tracked the size of America’s LGBTQ population. The percentage of Americans who identified as gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, slowly year over year or queer was relatively low and inching up. In 2024, nearly one in ten (9.3 percent) Americans identify as LGBTQ. Gallup’s newest report recorded the single largest one-year increase in LGBTQ identity. Recently, the pace up has sped. For the first few years, there was not much news to report.
The steady rise in LGBTQ identity among the public is worth noting, but it’s not the most important part of the story. In less than a decade, the percentage of young women who identify as LGBTQ has more than tripled. Most of the uptick in LGBTQ identity over the past ten years will be due to a dramatic increase among young adults, young women particularly.
The gender gap in LGBTQ identity has exploded as well. There is now a nearly 20-point hole in the sexual identity of young women and men. A decade earlier, youthful women of all ages have been simply somewhat extra most likely to recognize as LGBTQ than younger guys. Over the next nine years, LGBTQ id increased by 21 points among young women and only six points among young men. For instance, in 2015, 10 percent of young women and six percent of young men identified as LGBTQ.
As someone who studies cultural and social trends for a living, this is remarkable simply. There are a few explanations worth considering.
Is it Rising Social Acceptance?
For a very long time, several homosexual or lesbian people sensed required to hide who they had been to stay away from open condemnation, cultural stigma and violence still. But American society has changed a lot over the last few decades, and sights of LGBTQ people possess come to be less adverse than they once had been far. In 2024, 67 percent of US adults said that homosexuality should be accepted by society, up from 50 per-cent in 2007.
This argument is based on the idea that natural sexual preferences and identities were culturally repressed. Ross Douthat explained thwill be discussion is akin to the rcan gete in left-handedness, which increased rapidly after schools stopped prohibiting it: "Just as, for example, we discovered that left-handedness is much more common once we stopped trying to train kids out of it." we quit controlling intrinsic lustful multiplicity After, it flourished quickly.
Increasing social acceptance of homosexuality does not explain why the rise in LGBTQ identity is primarily occurring among young liberal women-are they uniquely tolerant or supportive? In fact, there is little change among older cohorts. If anything, the views of older Americans on LGBTQ issues have shifted more dramatically than young adults, but they are not demonstrating the same rise in LGBTQ identity.
What’s more, the development in LGBTQ individuality is definitely mostly becoming motivated by an increase of bisexuality, it’s not due to extra gay and lesbian people coming out. The Gallup information displays that practically one-quarter of fresh ladies recognize as bisexual. The quantity of Us citizens who distinguish as bisexual features exploded, among young women especially.
But bisexual identity does not neatly align with behavior. In our research, nearly all People in america who report smooth sexual preferences typically prefer 1 gender nevertheless. A past study by the Pew Research Center found that nearly nine in ten partnered-bisexual people are currently dating someone of the opposite sex. Even as sexual identities are shifting, it’s less clear if they reflect underlying changes in sexual practices.
Is it Social Media?
Another possible explanation for why women have experienced the most dramatic growth in LGBTQ identity is social media. Our exploration as well exhibits that younger girls who distinguish as homosexual, lesbian, bisexual or queer are much more active on social media platforms than women of the same age who will be straight. Small ladies happen to be considerably more lively on cultural advertising than fresh adult men considerably, and given gendered habits online, they are more likely to be exposed to accounts that feature LGBTQ topics.
For me, this is a compelling explanation. The dramatic uptick in LGBTQ identity among young women during the pandemic makes some sense too.
After the COVID-19 pandemic restricted in-person socializing, social media became a refuge for many teens and young adults, and the use of platforms like TikTok spiked. A 2022 Business Insider article describes how some young women exposed to social media algorithms expressed greater openness to identifying as LGBTQ:
"The women said they joined TikTok to escape pandemic boredom or despair, only to find themselves drawn to videos of women kissing, bouncing in thirst contains sexily, or discussing compulsory heterosexuality - the idea that women are socialized to assume they must like and be in relationships with men."
"As their ‘For You’ pages filled with queer content, the women began to question the years they spent pursuing relationships with men solely. Three have since come out as lesbians, and one as queer. All said their time on the app was an earth-shaking experience, as they uncovered an substitute to well-known lifestyle that hardly ever exhibits girls caring various other females romantically."
Since the earliest days of the Internet, online communities served as critical spaces for people from marginalized groups to connect with others who shared their experiences or identity. But these earlier online towns expected folks to look for out these re-inifocing places definitely, while contemporary public advertising algorithms excel at giving affirmations to us directly. Throughout the past five years-particularly in 2024-LGBTQ pop culture, lesbian culture especially, has hit peak popularity. LGBTQ content creators play a central role in defining what’s trendy across the platform.
Research backs up these anecdotal accounts. One recent study found that repeated exposure to information describing "sexual orientation existing on a continuum" led respondents to adopt more fluid sexual identities or to express greater uncertainty about their sexual orientation.
Is it About Wokeness?
Another intriguing possibility is that LGBTQ identity, especially for young women, possesses turn into a stage of pride or a tag of public position. In We Possess Been Woke In no way, sociologist Musa al-Gharbi argues that being associated with or identifying as a member of a marginalized social group can confer social benefits in certain contexts.
He writes: "identifying with the umbrella term (LGBTQ) allows those who are relatively advantaged to portray themselves as the opposite-often by appealing to statistics that are driven heavily by adverse outcomes among those who are quite sociologically distant from themselves. The more elite the space, the more pronounced these tendencies become."
According to this theory, a young women might be more inclined to identify as bisexual because it offers some offers advantages in her peer group. and should come to be presented more regard and deference. " Her concepts may turn out to be provided extra esteem, her blunders might get even more pardoned effortlessly, and she might steer clear of criticism of her behaviour. This occurs because, as al-Gharbi writes, "the widespread notion that people who are most oppressed can understand society most clearly…
It’s a provocative theory, and it may aid reveal how our current tradition provides modified interpersonal rewards. But learners at Ivy Group universities seem to end up being demographically specific in any range of techniques. Three attributes strongly predict LGBTQ identity: gender, politics and generation. For instance, as of 2023, nearly four in ten (38 percent) students at Brown University identify as LGBTQ. Musa al-Gharbi notes that students at Ivy League colleges are more likely to recognize as LGBTQ students than young adults overall. At least in the Gallup data, there are not pronounced differences in LGBTQ identity across lines of education, race or income. However, there’s not much compelling evidence that LGBTQ people will be overrepresented among elites at the national level. They furthermore are inclined to turn out to be overrepresented among atheists and virgins.
If you are liberal, young and biologically female your odds of identifying as LGBTQ are usually incredibly high also. The overwhelming majority of conservative, average and liberal aged people upright are usually. Importantly, politics appear to be a much stronger predictor of LGBTQ identity among young adults-very few older Americans across the political spectrum identify as LGTBQ. Most young adults who are "very liberal" are LGBTQ; among young women who are very liberal, six in ten are LGBTQ.
It would be a mistake to assume that any current trend in sexual identity or preference is destined to continue. Rather, intimate identity may extra resemble politics identity-something that evolves through adolescence and earlier adulthood closely. In a recent survey, we found that Americans who identify as bwill beexual are more likely than those who identify as gay, direct or perhaps lesbian to exhibit uncertainty about who they will be. Human sexuality as it is manifested in modern society will be not necessarily an immutable state of being or preference.
In our report, we wrote:
"Two-thirds (67 percent) of Americans who identify as bisexual say in the past 12 months they have sometimes felt unsure about who they were supposed to be. Close to half of gay and lesbian adults (48 percent) report feeling this way as often. Us citizens who distinguish as straight or heterosexual are far less likely to feel unsure about who they will be; year 29 percent report this feeling within the past."
For most of us, these private doubts and doubts are not everlasting. As we age, our social context changes, which alters the sort of men and women and spots that impact our behaviour and philosophy. Through surviving we learn a full lot about ourselves and the type of person we aspire to be. Current polling shows us a snapshot of who we are at this specific moment in time, definitely not who we will become undoubtedly.
Read More on American Storylines
Survey Reports
Daniel A. Cox, Kelsey Eyre HammondNovember 20, 2025
Individuality and Moral Behavior: A Generational Divide in Moral Judgments and Self-Expression
Younger and older Americans increasingly disagree on the morality of certain behaviors, reflecting deep shifts in views about individuality, self-expression, and the role of faith and area.
Daniel A. Cox
July 2, 2025
America’s Cultural Crossroads: Enduring Discontent, Rising Disconnection, and an Uncertain Future
A new survey from the Survey Center on American Life shows Americans are changing course on major cultural issues-from immigration and gay rights to gender roles and public trust.
Daniel A. Cox, Kelsey Eyre Hammond
January 29, 2025
Romantic Recession: How Politics, Pessimism, and Anxiety Shape American Courtship
A new report by the Survey Center on American life finds that safety concerns and declining trust are reshaping modern dating, leaving many singles feeling pessimistic about their prospects. Sharp gender divides in attitudes toward dating apps, trust, and relationships reveal how these challenges are redefining the search for connection.
Daniel A. Cox, Kelsey Eyre Hammond
September 24, 2024
The Politics of Progress and Privilege: How America’s Gender Gap Is Reshaping the 2024 Election
Americans are increasingly divided on gendered issues. A new report by the Survey Center on American Life provides context for how these divisions might impact the results of the 2024 Presidential election.
