Nearly 6 percent of U.S. adults identify themselves as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender, according to a recent Gallup poll. Previous data from 2017 estimated 4.5 percent of Americans identified as LGBT.
Adults in the U.S. who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rose to nearly 6% in 2020, a Gallup poll showed.
Researchers interviewed over 15,000 Americans ages 18 and older over the course of 2020.
In the most recent data, about 7.6% of Americans did not answer the question about their sexual orientation, compared to data collected from 2012-2017, which revealed that about 5% had "no opinion" responses.
Data regarding sexual orientation was not measured in 2018 or 2019.
However, the question in last year's poll was considerably more detailed than previous years, with respondents able to indicate their specific orientation instead of answering "yes" or "no" to which category they identify with.
The data reveals that more than half of Americans who identify as LGBT identify as bisexual, officials said. This means about 3.1% of Americans identify as bisexual.
About a quarter of LGBT respondents identify as gay; just under 12% as lesbian; and about 11% as transgender.
Younger populations are increasingly more likely to identify as something other than heterosexual. About one in six adult members of Generation Z, ages 18 to 23, consider themselves LGBT.
Whereas, less than 2% of adults ages 56 and older have historically identified as LGBT.
Going forward, more Americans are likely to identify as LGBT as the country becomes increasingly more supportive of equal rights for members of those communities, experts say.
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