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New poll finds 9% of US adults identify as LGBTQ+ — nearly triple the amount recorded in 2012
By Alex Nitzberg
Published February 18, 2026
Based on data collected via 2025 telephone interviews with more than 13,000 U.S. adults, Gallup estimates that 9% of Americans self-identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or another non-heterosexual identity.
"The vast majority, 86%, say they are heterosexual, while 9% identify with one of the various LGBTQ+ identities and 5% do not give a response," Gallup noted in releasing the poll results on Monday.
The figure was slightly less than the 9.3% for 2024, but nearly triple the 3.5% who identified as LGBT in 2012, according to the company.
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Demonstrators wrapped in a pride flag during a rally for 'Trans Day of Visibility' in New York, US, on Monday, March 31, 2025. (Adam Gray/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
LGBTQ+ identities are more prevalent in young adults, women and Democrats, the data indicates.
While a whopping 23% of U.S. adults ages 18-29 identify as LGBTQ+, that number drops precipitously for higher age groups, falling to 10.4% among those 30-49-years-old, 3.1% among those ages 50-64 and 2.3% for those 65+.
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While 10.5% of women identify as LGBTQ+, just 5.6% of men do, according to Gallup's 2025 telephone poll.
And while 14.2% of Democrats identify as LGBTQ+, only 1.9% of Republicans do, according to the poll.
A lesbian couple hold hands during the annual Gay Pride rally, on June 8, 2007 Tel Aviv, Israel (David Silverman/Getty Images)
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Bisexual, the most popular of the alternative identities, was chosen by more than half (58.6%) of those identifying as LGBTQ+, which amounts to 5.3% of U.S. adults, according to Gallup's poll.
https://www.foxnews.com/us/new-poll-finds-9-percent-us-adults-identify-lgbtq-nearly-triple-amount-recorded-2012