Nearly 1 in 10 adults in the United States identifies as LGBTQ+, according to a large analysis from Gallup released Thursday — almost triple the share since Gallup began counting in 2012, and up by two-thirds since 2020.

The increases have been driven by young people and bisexual women.

Nearly one-quarter of adults in Generation Z, defined by Gallup as those 18 to 27, identify as LGBTQ+, according to the analysis, which included 14,000 adults across all of Gallup’s telephone surveys last year. More than half of these LGBTQ+ young adults identify as bisexual.

Among all respondents, 1.3% identified as transgender, up from 0.6% in 2020. That is higher than other large surveys have found in recent years.

Members of Gen Z were most likely to be transgender, Gallup found — 4.1% were, compared with 1.7% of millennials and less than 1% in each older generation. Various groups have tried to count this population, and Gallup’s survey is considered one of the most complete.

Respondents were asked if they considered themselves straight or heterosexual, lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender, and could choose more than one identity or volunteer another. About 86% of respondents said they were straight, according to Gallup.

Increasing LGBTQ+ identification has been “largely driven by the many decades of gradual increasing societal acceptance,” said Dr. Mitchell R. Lunn, who co-directs the Pride Study, a research project at Stanford University.

Lunn said he thinks the Gallup numbers are probably an underestimate, mostly because people might not feel comfortable sharing the information.

Yet even as acceptance has grown, so has stigma. Many states, particularly ones led by Republicans, have proposed or enacted LGBTQ+restrictions in recent years, particularly for young transgender people.

— New York Times