The percentage of U.S. adults who intify as lbian, gay, bisexual or transgenr has creased to 7.1%. This is driven by high LGBT self-intifitn, particularly as bisexual, among Generatn Z adults.
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HOW MANY PEOPLE ARE LBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, AND TRANSGENR?
Gallup fds 5.6% of U.S. adults intifyg as lbian, gay, bisexual or transgenr, wh the majory of them sayg they are bisexual. * lgbt demographics 2016 *
In the absence of affirmg and protective environments, polici, and practic, some who nsir themselv to be lbian, gay, bisexual, or transgenr (LGBT), who have tersex tras/DSD, or who otherwise intify as not cisgenr or heterosexual may ci not to disclose tails of their sexual orientatn, genr inty, or tersex stat. 0 percent of adults intified as lbian, gay, or bisexual.
2FIGURE 3-1Lbian, gay, bisexual, and transgenr intifitn.
LBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, AND TRANSGENR HEALTH
The percentage of Amerin adults intifyg as lbian, gay, bisexual or transgenr creased to 4.5% 2017 om 4.1% 2016 and 3.5% 2012. * lgbt demographics 2016 *
In 1972 the GSS reported that 73 percent of Amerin adults believed that homosexualy was always wrong, while 11 percent believed that homosexualy was not wrong at all. By 2018, only 32 percent said homosexualy was always wrong, and 58 percent said was not wrong at all (Gat, 2017): see Figure 3-2Approval of homosexualy, 1972–2018.
Adults thought that gay and lbian relatnships between nsentg adults should be legal. 9In a 2019 poll, 63 percent of all rponnts said that lbian, gay, and bisexual people experience “a great al” or “a fair amount” of discrimatn the Uned Stat today, and 69 percent said the same about transgenr.
10 In a recent poll, large majori of the Amerin public said that there is at least some discrimatn agast lbian, gay, and bisexual people (74%) and transgenr people (79%) the Uned Stat today, which is parable to the proportn who believe discrimatn exists agast Black (84%) and Hispanic people (77%) (Kirzger et al., 2020). In health re, a 2020 poll found that large majori said should be illegal for doctors and other health re provirs to refe to treat people bee they are lbian, gay, or bisexual (89 percent) or transgenr (88%) (Kirzger et al., 2020). In a recent poll, however, majori of the public opposed allowg a range of enti to voke relig exemptns to avoid servg gay and lbian people, cludg small bs owners (5%), licensed profsnals (67%), adoptn agenci (60 percent), and pani providg weddg servic (55%) (Jon et al., 2019b).
* lgbt demographics 2016 *
One factor that ntribut to an dividual’s acceptg attus about SGD people and their rights is mographic characteristics (lbian women and gay men: Bnach, 2011, 2012; Becker, 2012; Becker and Schfele, 2011; transgenr people: Flor, 2015; Norton and Herek, 2013; Taylor et al., 2018).
Gallup timat that 7.2% of the U.S. adult populatn is lbian, gay, bisexual or transgenr. * lgbt demographics 2016 *
A send factor is valu, such as egalarianism, tradnalism, and thorarianism (lbian women and gay men: Brewer, 2003a, 2003b, 2007; Ga and Garand, 2010; transgenr people: Miller et al., 2017; Taylor et al., 2018). A third factor is relign (lbian women and gay men: Olson, Cadge, and Harrison, 2006; transgenr people: Taylor et al., 2018). A fourth factor is emotnal predisposns (lbian women and gay men: Gadarian and van r Vort, 2018; Harrison and Michelson, 2017; transgenr people: Michelson and Harrison, 2020; Miller et al., 2017).
The fifth factor is personal experienc, such as knowg dividual SGD people (lbian women and gay men: Herek and Capan, 1996; Lewis, 2011; transgenr people: Jon et al., 2018; Tadlock et al., 2017). Analysis of bed GSS data om 2014, 2016, and 2018 suggts that 37 percent of rponnts who intified as lbian, gay, or bisexual say that they live a state that differs om the state where they lived when they were 16 years old, which is not statistilly different om the 35 percent of heterosexual rponnts wh the same rponse. 12 Even if the mobily patterns of lbian, gay, and bisexual people differ om those of heterosexuals, the siary between the two groups the probabily of movg likely means that there is not enough mobily among the former group to expla substantial state-level variatn LGBT populatn siz.
GENDER AND SEXUAL ORIENTATIONAnalys of data om the GSS and the Natnal Health Interview Study (NHIS) show a nsistent pattern which creas lbian, gay, and bisexual intifitn have been more pronounced among women and bisexual people: see Figure 3-5. In 2013, 53 percent of self-intified lbian, gay, and bisexual adults on the NHIS were female; by 2018, that proportn had creased to 56 percent. Analys of Cens Bure data show that 54 percent of habg same-sex upl are female (Williams Instute, 2019) 3-5Sexual orientatn inty and genr among lbian, gay, and bisexual adults age 18 and olr.