Poll: Nearly 16% of Generation Z Identify as LGBT

The overall percentage of Americans who identify as LGBT is on the rise, but the shift seems to be driven by younger generations — particularly Generation Z, which sees one in six identifying as LGBT, a Gallup survey released Wednesday found.

While the vast majority of Americans identify as heterosexual, 86.7 percent, the Gallup survey found that 5.6 percent of U.S. adults identify as LGBT. That is up from 4.5 percent in 2017 and 3.5 percent in 2012. 7.6 percent did not answer the question, compared to the “roughly 5 percent” who expressed no opinion in previous surveys.

Gallup noted that the identity question, which was asked among over 15,000 respondents throughout 2020 “offers a greater level of detail than the question asked in previous years” as respondents can “indicate their precise sexual orientation, rather than simply answering ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to whether they identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender.”

The shift upwards appears to be largely driven by Generation Z, or those born 1997-2002.

According to the survey, 15.9 percent of Generation Z identifies as LGBT, followed by 9.1 percent of millennials (those born 1981-1996), 3.8 percent of Generation X (born 1965-1980), two percent of baby boomers (born 1946-1964), and 1.3 percent of traditionalists (born before 1946). Nearly three-quarters of Generation Zers who consider themselves LGBT identify as bisexual, specifically.

Similarly, the majority, or 54.6 percent, of Americans who consider themselves LGBT identify as bisexual, followed by gay (24.5 percent), lesbian (11.7 percent), transgender (11.3 percent), and other (3.3 percent).

The survey coincides with the House’s forthcoming vote on the Equality Act, which critics warn will strip entities of Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) protections and negatively impact women, as it opens the door for transgender women, or biological males, to compete in women’s sports.

“The left will lay down the rights and security of millions of Americans — particularly young women — at the altar of gender ideology,” Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) warned in an impassioned speech on Monday, urging her colleagues to strike down the Equality Act.

Watch:

U.S. House of Representatives