More Americans identify as LGBT now than ever before, poll finds

A new Gallup poll released earlier this week revealed that the number of Americans who identify as LGBT have surged in the last few years.

According to the data, which was gathered over the past five years, the number of Americans identifying as LGBT rose from 3.5% in 2012 to 4.1% in 2016.

Gallup estimates now that around 10,052,000 adults in the US now identifies as LGBT, passing the 10 million mark in 2016.

According to the poll, millennials are the age group with the highest numbers, being twice as likely to identify as LGBT.

“In 2012, they accounted for 43% of LGBT-identified adults. As a result of their disproportionate increases in identification since then, they now account for 58%. Millennials comprise 32% of the general adult population.”

“It’s likely that millennials are the first generation in the US to grow up in an environment where social acceptance of the LGBT community markedly increased.”

“They may not have experienced the levels of discrimination and stigma experienced by their older counterparts,” it added.

Looking at ethnic identity, the largest surge in LGBT identification was among Asians, blooming from 3.5% to 4.9% and Hispanics, 4.3% to 5.4%.

Gallup also revealed that the number of highly or moderately religious adults who identified as LGBT remained the same throughout the five years, but increased from 5.3% to 7.0% among those who are not religious.

Chad Griffin of The Human Rights Campaign said, “This survey reflects the fact that in just four years there has been a historic increase in American adults boldly coming out as LGBTQ”.

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