Numbers don't lie — and the latest statistics may be an indication that we're making ground when it comes to LGBTQ acceptance. A Gallup poll released yesterday revealed that "American adults identifying as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender (LGBT) increased to 4.1% in 2016 from 3.5% in 2012." Over 10 million American adults are now identifying as LGBT, which is up from 1.75 million back in 2012.
The information was gathered from a pool of 1.6 million American adults over the past five years. The statisticians at Gallup said that more than 49,000 respondents replied "yes" when asked, "Do you, personally, identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender?" According to Gallup, this new data set shows the "largest representative sample of LGBT Americans."
The poll also breaks down respondents' ages and ethnic groups. Millennials, which Gallup defines as those born between 1980 and 1998, are "are more than twice as likely as any other generation to identify as LGBT." In 2012, millennials made up 48% of America's LGBT population. In the new poll, that number jumped to 58%. The latest stats also show that the number of women identifying as LGBT rose more than men: LGBT identification in women jumped to 4.4%, and the increase was 3.7% among men. All racial groups, income groups, and education levels reported higher than in previous years, as well. This doesn't mean that there are more LGBT people overall, it just indicates that more people are being open about their sexuality.
The Gallup poll confirms information gathered by the Archives of Sexual Behavior, which found that Americans are more bi-curious than ever, as well.