The percentage of Americans identifying as LGBTQ grew from 3.5 percent in 2012 to 7.1 percent in 2021, according to a poll conducted by Gallup.
Younger populations are driving the uptick in the percentage of queer people in the population, according to Gallup, which interviewed more than 12,000 adults from every state as part of an annual report on LGBTQ demographics in America. A whopping 21 percent of the Generation Z population — which includes those born between 1997 and 2003 — identifies as part of the LGBTQ community.
Among Millennials, 11 percent say they identify as LGBTQ. That number dropped to four percent among Generation X respondents, just under three percent for Baby Boomers, and about one percent for Traditionalists, which encompasses those born before 1946.
The share of overall respondents from the Generation Z population has grown from seven percent to 12 percent as that demographic has entered adulthood. Traditionalists, meanwhile, now make up eight percent of respondents.
Among all respondents, 6.6 percent did not elaborate on their sexual orientation or gender identity.
Notably, the majority of LGBTQ individuals polled — 57 percent — say they identify as bisexual, and bisexual people represent four percent of the overall population in the United States. Gay respondents make up 21 percent of the queer population, compared to 14 percent for lesbian individuals, 10 percent for transgender folks, and 4.3 percent of those classified as “other,” which includes queer and same-gender loving folks.
Generation Z boasts more than half of the bisexual respondents as any other group. Six percent of women identify as bisexual compared to two percent of men.
Gallup also recently found that the percentage of LGBTQ Americans married to a same-sex partner has remained steady at 10 percent. Six percent of queer adults are in same-sex domestic partnerships, which is down slightly, and the share of LGBTQ people who have never married has gone up to 53 percent.
