A record number of Americans identify
as LGBTQ according to a Gallup poll released last week.
Pollsters found that 7.1 percent of
respondents identify as LGBTQ, more than double since 2012.
“[The] increase in LGBT
identification in recent years largely reflects the higher prevalence
of such identities among the youngest U.S. adults compared with the
older generations they are replacing in the U.S. adult population,”
Gallup said in releasing its data.
Generation Z (20.8%) and Millennials
(10.5%) are most likely to self-identify as LGBTQ, while Baby Boomers
(2.6%) and Traditionalists (0.8%) are least likely. However, older
generations are more likely to skip the question entirely, with 7.1
percent of Traditionalists offering no response.
Gallup predicted that the number of
people who self-identify as LGBTQ will soon reach 10 percent.
“Given the large disparities in LGBT
identification between younger and older generations of Americans,
the proportion of all Americans who identify as LGBT can be expected
to grow in the future as younger generations will constitute a larger
share of the total U.S. adult population,” Gallup said.
Fifty-seven percent of LGBTQ Americans
identify as bisexual, 21 percent as gay, 14 percent as lesbian, 10
percent as transgender, and 4 percent as something else, according
to the poll.