Study Finds 2.8 Million Americans Identify as Transgender
The Williams Institute reports that 1% of Americans 13 and older identify as transgender, with younger generations leading the way.
A new report published by the Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law finds that an estimated 2.8 million Americans aged 13 or older identify as transgender.
According to NBC News, that figure represents about 1% of the U.S. population within that age group. The breakdown is nearly even: 34.2% identify as transgender men, 32.7% as transgender women, and 33.1% as nonbinary.
One statistic drew particular attention on social media: younger Americans are far more likely to identify as transgender than older generations. About 3.3% of those ages 13-17 identify as transgender, compared to just 0.3% of those 65 and older.
As with most issues involving the transgender community, the data sparked outrage among cultural conservatives on social media.
“There is nothing natural about this,” wrote former investment banker and author John LeFevre, posting a chart illustrating the trend.
The percentage of US adults identifying as trans.
There is nothing natural about this. pic.twitter.com/4w6hNUSYU9
— John LeFevre (@JohnLeFevre) August 27, 2025
Similar outrage might have been voiced decades ago, when rates of left-handedness suddenly rose among Americans born after 1910.
One X user posted a chart showing the rise and eventual leveling of left-handedness by birth year, sarcastically quipping that there “nothing natural about this,” either.
The percentage of US people identifying as left handed.
There is nothing natural about this. https://t.co/yBpvOwGqSe pic.twitter.com/ufGMXCBh8U
— Matt Kovach (@mlkovach1) August 28, 2025
Much like today’s rise in transgender identification among younger Americans, the increase in left-handedness likely reflected a society becoming more tolerant — or at least more informed.
Left-handed people faced discrimination until surprisingly recently. According to MassMutual, children who tried to write or eat with their left hand were “corrected” as recently as the 1960s.
At one time, left-handedness was even considered immoral or demonic.
“The Devil himself was considered a southpaw, and he and other evil spirits were always conjured up by left-handed gestures,” Time magazine noted of beliefs in the Middle Ages.
Small wonder, then, that age differences in transgender identity align closely with age differences in acceptance of transgender people.
A 2022 Pew Research poll found that 54% of Americans ages 18-29 believe “greater social acceptance of people who are transgender” is good for society, compared to just 28% of those 65 and older.
It turns out that people are more likely to live authentically when they feel supported by their peers and society at large. Who knew?
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