1 in every 4 kid is gay

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 identify 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, gay, attracted to both genders, transgender or something other than heterosexual has increased to a new elevated 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, bi, or transgender as part of the demographic information it collects on all U.S. telephone surveys. Respondents can also volunteer any other sexual orientation or gender identity they prefer. In addition to the 7.1% of U.S. adults who consider themselves to be an LGBT identity, 86.3% say they are straight or heterosexual, and 6.6% undertake not offer an opinion. The results are based on aggregated 2021 information, encompassing interviews with more than 12,000 U.S. adults.

Line graph. Americans' Self-Identification as Lesbian, Gay, Double attraction, Transgender or Something Other than Heterosexual.

The evolutionary puzzle of homosexuality

These figures may not be high enough to sustain genetic traits specific to this group, but the evolutionary biologist Jeremy Yoder points out in a blog post, external that for much of new history gay people haven't been living openly lgbtq+ lives. Compelled by community to enter marriages and have children, their reproduction rates may have been higher than they are now.

How many homosexual people have children also depends on how you define being "gay". Many of the "straight" men who have sex with fa'afafine in Samoa leave on to get married and have children.

"The category of same-sex sexuality becomes very diffuse when you take a multicultural perspective," says Joan Roughgarden, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Hawaii. "If you go to India, you'll find that if someone says they are 'gay' or 'homosexual' then that immediately identifies them as Western. But that doesn't mean there's no homosexuality there."

Similarly in the West, there is evidence that many people go through a phase of homosexual activity. In the 1940s, US sex researcher Alfred K

Sexual Orientation

Adolescence is the dawn of sexual attraction. It happens due to the hormonal changes of puberty. These changes involve both the body and the mind — so just thinking about someone attractive can cause physical arousal.

These new feelings can be intense, confusing, sometimes even overwhelming. Teens are origin to discover what it means to be attracted romantically and physically to others. And recognizing one's sexual orientation is part of that process.

What Is Sexual Orientation?

The term sexual orientation refers to the gender (that is, male or female) to which a person is attracted. There are several types of sexual orientation that are commonly described:

  • Heterosexual (straight). People who are heterosexual are romantically and physically attracted to members of the opposite sex: males are attracted to females, and females are attracted to males. Heterosexuals are often called "straight."
  • Homosexual (gay or lesbian). People who are homosexual are romantically and physically attracted to people of the matching sex: females are attracted to other females; males are attracted to other males. Homosexuals (whether male or female) are often called "gay.
    1 in every 4 kid is gay

    Is 10% of the population really gay?

    For a single statistic to be the primary propaganda weapon for a fundamental political movement is unusual. Back in 1977, the US National Gay Task Force (NGTF) was invited into the White House to meet President Jimmy Carter’s representatives – a first for gay and homosexual woman groups. The NGTF’s most prominent campaigning slogan was “we are everywhere”, backed up by the memorable statistical claim that one in 10 of the US population was gay – this figure was deeply and passionately contested.

    So where did Bruce Voeller, a scientist who was a founder and first director of the NGTF, get this nice round 10% from? To locate out, we hold to delve help into Alfred Kinsey’s surveys in 1940s America, which were groundbreaking at the time but are now seen as archaic in their methods: he sought out respondents in prisons and the gay underworld, made friends with them and, over a cigarette, noted down their behaviours using an obscure code. Kinsey did not believe that sexual identity was fixed and simply categorised, and perhaps his most lasting contribution was his scale, still used today, in which individuals are rated from exclusively heterosexual to exclusive

    Adult LGBT Population in the United States

    This report provides estimates of the number and percent of the U.S. adult population that identifies as LGBT, overall, as well as by age. Estimates of LGBT adults at the national, state, and regional levels are included. We rely on BRFSS 2020-2021 facts for these estimates. Pooling multiple years of information provides more stable estimates—particularly at the state level.

    Combining 2020-2021 BRFSS data, we estimate that 5.5% of U.S. adults identify as LGBT. Further, we estimate that there are almost 13.9 million (13,942,200) LGBT adults in the U.S.

    Regions and States

    LGBT people reside in all regions of the U.S. (Table 2 and Figure 2). Consistent with the overall population in the United States,more LGBT adults live in the South than in any other region. More than half (57.0%) of LGBT people in the U.S. live in the Midwest (21.1%) and South (35.9%), including 2.9 million in the Midwest and 5.0 million in the South. About one-quarter (24.5%) of LGBT adults reside in the West, approximately 3.4 million people. Less than one in five (18.5%) LGBT adults reside in the Northeast (2.6 million).

    The percent of adults who identify as LGBT