A new survey has shown that more than 10 million Americans now identify as LGBT.
According to the poll, the portion of American adults identifying as LGBT increased to 4.1% in 2016 from 3.5% in 2012, an increase of 1.75 million over four years.
The results are based on telephone interviews with a random sample of 1,626,773 U.S. adults, aged 18 and older, living in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, from June 1, 2012, through December 30, 2016.
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The survey also found that:
- LGBT identification increases are more pronounced in women than in men.
- The largest increase in LGBT self-identification among ethnic minorities occurred within the Asian population.
- LGBT identification increased among all income and education groups.
- Increases in LGBT identification were largely among those who are not religious.
Based on replies from more than 49,000 respondents, Gallup says that millennials drive virtually all of the increases observed in overall LGBT self-identification. Millennials identifying as LGBT increased from 5.8% in 2012 to 7.3% in 2016 while LGBT identification remained relatively stable over the five-year period at among Generation X and declined slightly among baby boomers and traditionalists.
According to Gallup, the fact that data security and confidentiality are not major concerns of millennials could help to explain why that group are so much more likely to identify as LGBT when compared with other generations.
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