Gallup: LGBTQ+ identification in U.S. rises to 7.6%

March 13 (UPI) -- A Gallup survey released Wednesday shows 7.6% of U.S. adults now identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or other sexual orientations beside heterosexual.

If current trends continue, the U.S. LGBTQ+ population could be 10% within three decades, Gallup said in making the announcement about the survey results from 2023 polling.

Gallup said the percentage of U.S. adults who consider themselves part of the LGBTQ+ community has more than doubled since the organization first asked about sexual orientation and transgender identity in 2012.

Not surprisingly, driving this rise in gay identification has been U.S. young adults. Gallup said about 1 in 10 millennials identify as LGBTQ+, while 1 in 5 Gen Z adults identify this way.

In general, Gallup said, each younger generation is almost twice as likely as the generation before to self-identify as LGBTQ+. Additionally, only 2% of baby boomers identify as gay.

Details from the survey:

• Bisexual adults are the largest segment of U.S. LGBTQ+ population, with 4.4% of U.S. adults and 57.3% of LGBTQ+ adults identifying as bisexual.
• Women (8.5%) are almost twice as likely as men (4.7%) to identify as LGBTQ+.
• Gay and lesbian are the next-most-common identities, each representing slightly over 1% of U.S. adults and roughly 1 in 6 LGBTQ+ adults.
• A little less than 1% of U.S. adults and about 1 in 8 LGBTQ+ adults are transgender.
• The least ID'd LGBTQ+ identities are pansexual and asexual, mentioned by less than 2% of LGBTQ+ adult respondents.

Gallup said the survey results come from interviews with more than 12,000 Americans 18 and older in 2023. From the overall survey, 85.6% of respondents said they are straight or heterosexual, while 7.6% identified as part of the LGBTQ+ population. Gallup said 6.8% did not respond.