Gay in us
We Are Here: Queer Adult Population in Combined States Reaches At Least 20 Million, According to Human Rights Campaign Foundation Report
by Laurel Powell •
According to an examination of data in the Census Bureau’s recent Domesticated Pulse Survey, 8% of respondents identified themselves as LGBTQ+, suggesting previous surveys undercounted the population.
WASHINGTON -- Today, the Human Rights Campaign Foundation (HRC) released “We Are Here: Awareness the Size of the LGBTQ+ Community,” a state analyzing recent results from the U.S. Census Bureau’s Household Pulse Survey. Based on data from respondents in the Household Pulse Survey, a national domesticated probability survey of adults in the United States, at least 20 million adults in the Merged States could be queer woman , gay, bisexual, or trans - nearly 8% of the total adult population, almost double prior estimates for the LGBTQ+ community’s size. It also suggests that more than 1% of people in the United States identify as transgender, higher than any prior estimates. Additionally, it confirms prior research displaying that bisexual people depict the largest single
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 recognize 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, homosexual, bisexual, transgender or something other than heterosexual has increased to a modern high 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, double attraction, or transgender as part of the demographic data it collects on all U.S. telephone surveys. Respondents can also volunteer any other sexual orientation or gender identity they opt for. In addition to the 7.1% of U.S. adults who consider themselves to be an LGBT individuality, 86.3% say they are straight or heterosexual, and 6.6% do not present an opinion. The results are based on aggregated 2021 data, encompassing interviews with more than 12,000 U.S. adults.
Line graph. Americans' Self-Identification as Lesbian, Male lover, Bisexual, Transgender or Something Other than Heterosexual.
LGBTQ+ Identification in U.S. Now at 7.6%
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- LGBTQ+ identification in the U.S. continues to expand, with 7.6% of U.S. adults now identifying as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual , queer or some other sexual orientation besides heterosexual. The current figure is up from 5.6% four years ago and 3.5% in 2012, Gallup’s first year of measuring sexual orientation and transgender identity.
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These results are based on aggregated data from 2023 Gallup telephone surveys, encompassing interviews with more than 12,000 Americans aged 18 and older. In each survey, Gallup asks respondents whether they identify as heterosexual, lesbian, gay, bi-curious, transgender or something else. Overall, 85.6% say they are straight or heterosexual, 7.6% identify with one or more LGBTQ+ groups, and 6.8% decline to respond.
Bisexual adults make up the largest proportion of the LGBTQ+ population -- 4.4% of U.S. adults and 57.3% of Diverse adults say they are bisexual. Gay and woman loving woman are the next-most-common identities, each representing slightly over 1% of U.S. adults and roughly one in six LGBTQ+ adults. Slightly less than 1% of U.S. adults and about one in eight LGBT
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 information 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 dwell in the Northeast (2.6 million).
The percent of adults who identify as LG
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