New poll shows more LGBTQ Americans and greater acceptance of marriage equality
The number of LGBTQ Americans has risen steadily since Gallup first started tracking in 2012
A new Gallup poll has found an increase in the number of Americans who identify as LGBTQ.
The poll, conducted on over 340,000 people, asked respondents, “Do you, personally, identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender?”
Gallup found that the percentage of American adults that identify as LGBTQ rose to 4.5 percent in 2017, increasing from 4.1 percent in 2016 and 3.5 percent in 2012, when Gallup first began tracking LGBTQ people.
Based on the survey results, Gallup estimates that over 11 million American adults currently identify as LGBTQ.
The jump in LGBTQ adults is largely attributed to millennials (those born between 1980 and 1999), where the number of those who identify as LGBTQ rose from 7.3% to 8.1% in 2017.
Among Gen Xers (those born between 1965 1979) rose 0.2% from 2016 to 2017, while there was no change in baby boomers (born 1946 through 1964) and traditionalists (before 1946).
Another Gallup poll also found that more Americans support same-sex marriage than ever before.
Asked if same-sex marriage should have the same rights as “traditional marriages,” 67% of people agreed, a 40-point increase from 1996.
Despite these supportive numbers, an HRC survey recently found that LGBTQ-identifying youth face high levels of stress, depression, and fear due to the challenges they face in their daily lives, with only 26% saying they feel safe at school and 67% saying they have heard family members make negative comments about LGBTQ people.
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