Nine percent of Americans self-identify as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, or Queer (LGBTQ) in Gallup's 2025 survey on the subject.
This is more than twice the percentage of Americans who identify as LGBTQ compared to 2012, when 3.5% of Americans so identified, and slightly less than the 9.3% figure recorded in 2024. The 2025 estimate is based on combined data from over 13,000 interviews with U.S. adults.
"There is growing acceptance of LGBTQ Americans as well. 61% of LGBTQ adults say there’s at least a fair amount of acceptance for people who are gay or lesbian," reports Pew Research from their May 2025 survey. "About half (52%) say the same for people who are bisexual," though "fewer say there’s a great deal or fair amount of acceptance for people who are nonbinary (14%) or transgender (13%)."
Perhaps nowhere was that acceptance better demonstrated than in the rising support for gay marriage.
Gallup reports that "Sixty-eight percent of U.S. adults say marriages between same-sex couples should be recognized by the law as valid, with the same rights as traditional marriages." The gap chasm between support for gay marriage by Democrats and Republicans is stark.
Democratic support has risen to 88%, the highest recorded for that group, while Republican support has declined to 41%, the lowest since 2016. Independents' support stands at 76%. The 47-percentage-point gap between Democrats and Republicans is the largest since Gallup began tracking this measure in 1996.
Just 16% of Republicans supported gay marriage in 1996, compared to 33% of Democrats. Support for gay marriage has risen in tandem with acceptance of LGBTQ people.
Public backing for legalized same-sex marriage was low in Gallup’s first reading in 1996, with 27% support from Americans. By 2004, 42% were in favor, and in 2011, support reached the majority level for the first time, where it has remained since late 2012. A year after the Obergefell decision, in 2016, public support increased to 61%, and it has been above that level since.
Throughout the trend, Democrats have been more supportive than Republicans of same-sex unions, with independents’ views closer to Democrats’. More than half of Democrats have backed legal recognition of same-sex unions since 2004, and independents have since 2011. Support among both groups has since expanded to larger majorities. Republican support has only reached the majority level twice, with 55% readings in 2021 and 2022. It has since been on the decline.
A few other interesting results from the Gallup survey show, not surprisingly, that the largest percentage of LGBTQ people are in the 18-28 age range. Fully 23% of that age group identify as LGBTQ.
Just 10.4% of those 30-49 say they are LGBTQ, and 5.4% in the 50-65+ age range.
There is still some reluctance to tell anyone, even a Gallup pollster, that you're LGBTQ. That number rises with age, which says something about the large percentage of LGBTQ people in the 18-29 age range.
I am not convinced by that 23% number, simply because of the breakdown of who the respondent is attracted to. Just 2.9% of respondents were lesbian, 2.5% were gay, and 3.0% were transgender, while 16.1% were "bisexual." Being attracted to both sexes is the hip thing in that generation, but whether or not they are genuinely capable of romantically loving someone from both sexes is open to question.
Being openly "bi-curious" is a thing, especially among the young. While many people are genuinely bisexual, I challenge those respondents in the 18-29 age group to remain bisexual into their middle age.
Recommended: Historic U.S. Hockey Golds: Men's Team Psyched for Trump Invitation, Women's Busy with 'Commitments'
Editor’s Note: With President Trump back in the White House, the state of our Union is strong once again. Support PJ Media’s coverage of the president’s State of the Union Address and help us report the truth the radical Left doesn’t want you to hear. Join PJ Media VIP and use promo code POTUS47 to get 74% off your VIP membership.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member