WASHINGTON, D.C. — Gallup finds 9.3% of U.S. adults identifying as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or something other than straight or heterosexual. The percentage has more than doubled since Gallup first measured LGBTQ+ identification in 2012.
Bisexual adults make up the largest share of the LGBTQ+ population at 56.3%, equivalent to 5.2% of all U.S. adults. About one in five LGBTQ+ adults say they are gay, with slightly fewer, close to 15%, identifying as lesbian. Just under 14% of LGBTQ+ adults say they are transgender, which equates to a little over 1% of all U.S. adults.
LGBTQ+ Identification Most Common Among Young Adults
Adults in younger generations are far more likely than those in older generations to identify as LGBTQ+. About 23% of Gen Z adults (born between 1997 and 2006, who were aged 18 to 27 when interviewed) and 14% of millennials (born 1981 to 1996, aged 28 to 43) are LGBTQ+, compared with about 5% or less of U.S. adults in older generations.
Ten percent of women versus 6% of men say they are LGBTQ+; the difference is mostly because women are more likely than men to say they are bisexual. Gender gaps are especially pronounced in the younger generations — 31% of Gen Z women versus 12% of Gen Z men, and 18% of millennial women versus 9% of millennial men, identify as LGBTQ+, with most of these younger women saying they are bisexual.
Strong differences in LGBTQ+ identification are also seen by ideology, with 21% of liberals, 8% of moderates and 3% of conservatives saying they are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender.
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Learn more in Gallup’s 2025 LGBTQ+ update. For more articles in the "Short Answer" series, visit Gallup's The Short Answer page.
