The number of Americans who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender has more than doubled over the past decade, according to the latest Gallup poll. 

The poll, published by Gallup on Wednesday, found that around 7.6 percent of U.S. citizens aged 18 or older identify as LGBTQ, compared with just 3.5 percent back in 2012. This is also a significant increase from 2020, when that number stood at just 5.6 percent. 

However, Gallup notes that many of these individuals identify as bisexual, meaning they could be in a committed heterosexual relationship without necessarily embracing their alternative orientation. 

Gallup explains:

Bisexual adults make up the largest proportion of the LGBTQ+ population -- 4.4% of U.S. adults and 57.3% of LGBTQ+ adults say they are bisexual. Gay and lesbian are the next-most-common identities, each representing slightly over 1% of U.S. adults and roughly one in six LGBTQ+ adults. 

Slightly less than 1% of U.S. adults and about one in eight LGBTQ+ adults are transgender. The most commonly volunteered LGBTQ+ identities are pansexual and asexual, mentioned by less than 2% of LGBTQ+ adults each.

Meanwhile, the survey also notes that much of this identification is coming from younger people, many of whom presumably feel liberated by increasingly progressive attitudes around issues of sexual identity: 

Increases in LGBTQ+ identification in recent years have occurred as members of Generation Z and the millennial generation have entered adulthood. Adults in these younger generations are far more likely than those in older generations to identify as LGBTQ+.

Overall, each younger generation is about twice as likely as the generation that preceded it to identify as LGBTQ+. More than one in five Gen Z adults, ranging in age from 18 to 26 in 2023, identify as LGBTQ+, as do nearly one in 10 millennials (aged 27 to 42). The percentage drops to less than 5% of Generation X, 2% of baby boomers and 1% of the Silent Generation.

Interestingly, Gallup also found that LGBT identification is much more common among women than men, with more than one in five Gen Z women identifying as bisexual. LGBT-identifying individuals are also more likely to identify as gay rather than bisexual as they grow older.

Researchers at Gallup concluded their survey by noting the staggering increase in LGBT identification since they began polling around the issue 12 years ago:

The percentage of U.S. adults who consider themselves something other than heterosexual has more than doubled since Gallup first asked about sexual orientation and transgender identity in 2012.

These changes have been led by younger Americans, with about one in 10 millennials and one in five Gen Z adults having an LGBTQ+ status. The generational differences and trends point to higher rates of LGBTQ+ identification, nationally, in the future. If current trends continue, it is likely that the proportion of LGBTQ+ identifiers will exceed 10% of U.S. adults at some point within the next three decades.

The findings stem from Gallup interviews with over 12,000 American adults. In total, 85.6 percent of respondents identified as straight or heterosexual, 7.6 percent identified as LGBT, and 6.8 percent declined to respond.