Over 20% of Gen-Z now identify as queer
Gen-Z leading a generational shift in LGBTQ+ identification
For Baby Boomers it was Stonewall. For Generation-X it was the AIDS crisis. For Millennials it was the legalization of gay marriage. Each one of those historical events resulted in society shifting towards acceptance and away from bigotry and hatred of queer people.
For Generation-Z (born between 1996-2012) the entire concept of gender and sexuality is fluid, with latest Gallup polling showing 19.7% of Gen-Z adults and 24.5% of Gen-Z teens who identify as queer. For this generation, 13.1% say they are bisexual, 3.4% are gay, 2.2% are lesbian, and 1.9% are transgender. Each of those percentages is higher than it is for all other generations.
This generation grew up with Pride parades and queer representation in the media and it shows what happens when people are allowed to be their authentic selves.
Cathy Renna, communications director for the National LGBTQ Task Force, says the poll results reflect reality as LGBTQ young people continue to blaze trails. "Who we are is rooted deeply in us and is something young people – growing up in a culture that has finally been able to tell them that they are aren’t alone, that they are beautiful and perfect exactly as they are – will never turn back from now."
Related story: Queer students yell “Trans lives matter” in front of Idaho’s transphobic Governor
A Generational Shift is Taking Place
Not only can people be transgender, identifying with a gender different from their sex assigned at birth, but they can identify as neither male nor female (often called nonbinary, sometimes shortened to enby, the phonetic of N.B.; there’s also gender fluid, gender queer, demiboy, demigirl, and many other terms describing self-definitions of gender).
Until recently, it was unclear just how common being transgender or nonbinary was, and whether there were any generational differences in the number who identified this way. With most estimates suggesting transgender people were less than 1% of the population, a large sample is necessary to get accurate numbers.
That type of data is finally available. Starting in June 2021, the U.S. Census Bureau offered four options on its Household Pulse Survey question about gender: male, female, transgender, and none of these, the last a rough gauge of those who identify as nonbinary, gender fluid, or another gender identity. With more than a million respondents, the survey is large enough to provide accurate estimates.
The results are clear: Gen Z young adults are much more likely to report identifying as either trans or nonbinary than other generations. While only 1 out of 1,000 Boomers report they are transgender (one-tenth of 1%), 23 out of 1,000 Gen Z young adults (2.30%) identify as trans—20 times more. By this estimate, there are now more trans young adults in the U.S. than the number of people living in Boston.
Fewer than 1% of Boomers identify as non-binary, compared to more than 3% of Gen Z young adults. Combined with the more than 2% who are trans, that means 1 out of 18 young adults identified as something other than male or female in 2021 and 2022. With 39 million 18- to 26-year-olds in the U.S., about 2 million young adults identified as trans or nonbinary—more than the population of Phoenix, the fifth-largest city in the country.
Related story: What do queer youth think as their rights are under siege?
What will these changes around gender identity mean going forward? It has become common to cite the statistic that only a half of 1% of people are transgender. Although that is true for older adults, it is no longer true among 18- to 22-year-olds in the U.S., where 3%—six times as many—identify as transgender, and nearly 5% identify as nonbinary. The last few years have seen increasingly contentious debate around transgender rights, and these numbers suggest that the topic is unlikely to fade in importance. In particular, the large generational difference in gender identity suggests an intensifying need for empathy, understanding, and communication across the generations in the years to come.
Majority of Americans reject anti-trans bills, but support for restrictions is rising
A majority of Americans oppose restrictions on LGBTQ+ people, yet the latest PBS NewsHour/NPR/Marist poll shows support for such laws is growing as many Republican state and local lawmakers pursue hundreds of bills targeting LGBTQ+ rights around the country.
Forty-three percent of Americans now say they support laws that criminalize the act of providing gender-transition-related medical care to minors, according to the latest poll, marking a 15-percentage point increase since April 2021. About half of Americans — 54 percent — say they oppose such laws.
So far in this year’s legislative session, state lawmakers have introduced 434 bills that restrict fundamentals like health care, education and the freedom of expression for LGBTQ+ people, and are concentrated across Southern states, according to analysis from the American Civil Liberties Union. Most bills have advanced to committee and nearly two dozen have passed into law. That overall tally is up from last year, according to the Human Rights Campaign, when 315 bills were introduced.
In Arkansas, Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders recently signed a ban on transgender people using school bathrooms that do not match the gender listed on their birth certificates. In Florida, lawmakers introduced a bill that prevents minors from receiving gender-affirming care and would force kids to detransition if they had already begun hormone therapy.
And just today the Florida Legislature just passed their draconian Trans Healthcare Ban for minors, making it a felony to treat their gender dysphoria. It now moves to the Governor’s desk where Ron DeSantis will most likely sign it with glee. It’s clear that Republicans nationwide have decided that they are going to insert themselves into the medical decision making of young trans people.
Meanwhile, legal restrictions on drag shows and performances, such as what Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee signed into law in February, seem to have found solid support among Republicans, white evangelical Christians and Trump voters. But overall they are in the minority: Roughly six out of 10 Americans reject such laws.
The Trans Legislation Tracker is a good source of up-to-date information regarding anti-trans legislation being written and passed in Republican-led states.
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