As of July 22, 2025, the majority of the transgender population aged 13 and over in the United States were living in a state with no ban on transgender people's use of bathrooms or facilities. However, ***** percent of the transgender population were living in a state which banned transgender people from using bathrooms and facilities consistent with their gender identity in K-12 schools only, while **** percent were living in a state which banned transgender people from using bathrooms and facilities corresponding to their gender identity in all government-owned buildings and spaces, including schools, colleges, and more. A further **** percent were living in a state that restricted transgender people from using bathrooms and facilities consistent with their gender identity in K-12 schools and at least some government-owned buildings as well. Anti-education legislation Statewide legislation affecting LGBTQ+ people in the U.S. has been on the rise recently, especially in K-12 schools. Many states have taken legal action to restrict schools from teaching topics of racism, sexism, gender identity, sexual orientation, and systemic inequality to students. However, studies show that Americans typically remain politically divided over how these topics should be taught; in 2022, the majority of Democratic parents were found to believe that children should be taught that the legacy of slavery still affects the position of Black people in American society today while the majority of Republican parents thought that children should be taught that slavery is a part of American history but does not affect the position of Black people in American society today. Book bans Censorship of these topics has also been seen in K-12 libraries, with book bans occurring in multiple states throughout the country. As of 2022, Texas had the highest number of books banned in the U.S., followed by Florida. Florida's Parental Rights in Education Act, which is often referred to as the "Don't Say Gay" law, has been particularly controversial as it aims to prevent discussion of gender identity or sexual orientation and remove books featuring LGBTQ+ characters in K-12 schools and libraries. Along with potentially harming LGBTQ+ students, K-12 teachers have also highlighted how these laws and debates over what topics should be taught in the classroom may negatively impact their ability to do their job.

As of April 2024, 55 percent of the LGBT population lived in the 50 states and the District of Columbia where private health insurance service providers weren't allowed to deny coverage for transgender-related health care services, such as sex reassignment surgery. However, only 40 percent lived in states where health insurance protections included sexual orientation and gender identity.

LGBT Americans The share of Americans self-identifying as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender has grown in recent years. This suggests that insurance protections which cover LGBT-related health care services will also continue to grow in importance. The prevalence of younger Americans self-identifying as LGBT when compared with older generations confirms this. Millennials and Gen Xers are much more likely to personally identify as LGBT than previous generations were. Growing acceptance and tolerance in wider society means that more people are willing to be open about their gender identity and sexual orientation. For instance, support for same-sex marriage in the U.S. underwent a huge shift over the past two decades with the majority of Americans being in favor of it since 2011.

A survey conducted in 2021 found that around **** percent of people assigned male at birth still identify as male, while *** percent identified as female, and *** percent identified as transgender.

According to a survey conducted in 2024, ** percent of Americans thought that society has gone too far in accepting people who are transgender in the United States. ** percent of white Americans and ** percent of Hispanic Americans also shared this belief, compared to only ** percent of Black Americans.

The IPUMS Contextual Determinants of Health (CDOH) data series includes measures of disparities, policies, and counts, by state or county, for historically marginalized populations in the United States including Black, Asian, Hispanic/Latina/o/e/x, and LGBTQ+ persons, and women. The IPUMS CDOH data are made available through ICPSR/DSDR for merging with the National Couples' Health and Time Study (NCHAT), United States, 2020-2021 (ICPSR 38417) by approved restricted data researchers. All other researchers can access the IPUMS CDOH data via the IPUMS CDOH website. Unlike other IPUMS products, the CDOH data are organized into multiple categories related to Race and Ethnicity, Sexual and Gender Minority, Gender, and Politics. The CDOH measures were created from a wide variety of data sources (e.g., IPUMS NHGIS, the Census Bureau, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Movement Advancement Project, and Myers Abortion Facility Database). Measures are currently available for states or counties from approximately 2015 to 2020. The Sexual and Gender measures in this release include the proportion of a state's population identifying as LGBTQ+ in the U.S. Census Bureau's Household Pulse Survey, Phases 3.2 (07/21/2021-10/11/2021), 3.3 (12/01/2021-02/07/2022), 3.4 (03/02/2022-05/09/2022), and 3.5 (06/01/2022-08/08/2022). To work with the IPUMS CDOH data, researchers will need to first merge the NCHAT data to DS1 (MATCH ID and State FIPS Data). This merged file can then be linked to the IPUMS CDOH datafile (DS2) using the STATEFIPS variable.

In 2023, 7.6 percent of adults surveyed in the United States stated they identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender (LGBT). This is an increase from 2012, when 3.5 percent of surveyed adults identified as LGBT. These four categories are among the most common sexual orientations and gender identities outside cis-heterosexuals.

Differences across ages and genders 

Zooming in, it is possible to see how the share of people identifying as LGBT changed considerably according to different demographics. Only two percent of Baby Boomers, indeed, reported being part of the LGBT community. On the other hand, among Generation Z individuals, this share reached almost 16 percent. Moreover, surveys suggest that women were more likely to identify as LGBT than men.

An ever-understanding society 

The fact that an increasing amount of people feel free and safe to openly identify as LGBT might be a consequence of the improved acceptance of the different sexual orientations and genders by the American people at large. While in 2001 more than half of U.S. citizens considered homosexual relationships to be morally wrong, 20 years later this percentage dropped to 30 percent. Support for same-sex marriage has also been consistently increasing, even among traditionally conservative political groups. Despite this, it is important to remember that every year hundreds of people are still victims of hate crimes in the United States simply because of their gender or sexual orientation.

In 2023, 8.5 percent of female respondents in the United States stated they identify as LGBT, while 4.7 percent of male respondents said the same. This is an increase from 2012, when 3.5 percent of female respondents and 3.4 percent of male respondents identified as LGBT.

As of June 2022, the transgender population was estimated to reach over **** million in the United States. Transgender people aged between 25 and 64 were thought to make up the majority, with an estimated total of ******* trans people belonging to this age group. In comparison, there were also ******* youth between the ages of ** and ** estimated to identify as transgender in that year.

This layer shows Household Pulse Survey data on gender identity and sexual orientation. Gender identity is the internal perception of gender, and how one identifies based on how one aligns or doesn’t align with cultural options for gender. This is a different concept than sex assigned at birth. Sexual orientation is the type of sexual attraction one has the capacity to feel for others, generally labeled based on the gender relationship between the person and the people they are attracted to. This is not the same as sexual behavior or preference.Learn more about how the Census Bureau survey measures sexual orientation and gender identity. This page includes nation-wide characteristics such as age, Hispanic origin and race, and educational attainment. Also read some of their findings about experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic, such as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender (LGBT) adults experiencing higher rates of both economic hardship and mental health hardship. See the questionnaire used in phase 3.2 of the Household Pulse Survey.Source: Household Pulse Survey Data Tables. Data values in this layer are from Week 34 (July 21 - August 2, 2021), the first week that gender identity and sexual orientation questions were part of this survey. Top 15 metros are based on total population and are the same 15 metros available for all Household Pulse Data Tables.This layer is symbolized to show the percent of adults who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender (LGBT) as well as adults whose gender or sexual orientation was not listed on the survey (LGBTQIA+). The color of the symbol depicts the percentage and the size of the symbol depicts the count. *Percent calculations do not use those who did not report either their gender or sexual orientation in either the numerator or denominator, consistent with methodology used by the source.*Data Prep Steps:Data prep used Table 1 (Child Tax Credit Payment Status and Use, by Select Characteristics) to perform tabular data transformation. SAS to Table conversion tool was used to bring the tables into ArcGIS Pro.The data is joined to 2019 TIGER boundaries from the U.S. Census Bureau.Using the counties in each metro according to the Metropolitan and Micropolitan Statistical Area Reference Files, metro boundaries created via Merge and Dissolve tools in ArcGIS Pro.In preparing the field aliases and long descriptions, "none of these" and "something else" were generally modified to "not listed."

In the United States, the share of Americans who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or something other than heterosexual has more than doubled in the last 12 years, from *** percent in 2012 to *** percent in 2024.

In 2024, 14.2 percent of Millennials in the United States stated that they identify as LGBTQ+, while in 2012, less than six percent of respondents from the same generation said the same. Members of Generation Z were the most likely to identify as LGBTQ+, at over 23 percent.

Weighted descriptive statistics by marital status and gender, transmen.

A survey conducted in 2024 found that male respondents were more likely to think that society had gone too far in accepting transgender people. On the other hand, women were more likely to think that society had not gone far enough.

In a global survey conducted in 2023, ***** percent of respondents from 30 countries identified themselves as transgender, non-binary/non-conforming/gender-fluid, or in another way. In Switzerland, around *** percent of the respondents stated to identify themselves with one of the listed genders.

In 2021, around ** percent of individuals living in the District of Columbia identified as LGBT. Colorado, Arizona, Nevada, and Oregon also had high rates, exceeding *** percent. Mississippi and North Dakota had the lowest rates of LGBT populations, the only states with less than **** percent.

In 2022, around 80 percent of transgender people in the United States had considered suicide, while around 40 percent had attempted suicide. There has been an upward trend in both the considered and attempted suicide rate since 2000, when 61 percent of transgender people considered committing suicide and 28 percent had attempted it.

In 2022, around **** percent of transgender men had considered suicide, compared to **** percent of transgender women. Approximately **** percent of transgender men had attempted suicide, compared to **** percent of transgender women.

This statistics shows the results of a survey about the global attitude towards the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and/or intersex (LGBTI) community in 2016. When asked whether they personally knew someone who did not identify with the sex they were assigned at birth or someone who identified themselves as transgender, more than ** percent of Jamaican respondents stated that they did not personally know anyone like that.

This statistic shows the metropolitan areas in the United States with the highest share in inhabitants identifying as gay, lesbian, transgender or bisexual. In 2014, the San Francisco - Oakland - Hayward metro area in California had the highest share of LGBT population with 6.2 percent.

The share of individuals identifying as part of the LGBT community has increased with each generation. In 2023, bisexuality was the highest reported sexual orientation other than heterosexuality within both the Millennial and Z generations.