More of Gen Z Identifying as LGBT
by Mike James
According to a recent survey from Gallup, one in six adults in Generation Z (born 1997-2002) identifies as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender (LGBT). The latest survey based on more than 15,000 interviews conducted in 2020 with Americans age 18 and older found that 5.6 percent of U.S. adults identify as LGBT. In Gallup's survey from 2017, only 4.5 percent of U.S. adults identified as LGBT. In the 2014 survey, the number was only 3.7 percent.
We need to remember Generation Z is still reaching adulthood. Many in this generation will become adults over the next ten years, which could increase those numbers.
"As we see more Gen Z become adults, we may see that number go up," said Gallup senior editor Jeff Jones.
Some believe one of the reasons for this increase is the Internet. Phillip Hammack, a psychology professor and director of the Sexual and Gender Diversity Laboratory at the University of California at Santa Cruz, noted when he was coming out in the 1990s, there was no YouTube or Instagram to research sexuality outside of a library.
A recent book, Irreversible Damage, by Abigail Shrier, also provides data that girls ages eleven to twenty-one deal with "gender dysphoria" (gender identity disorder) at record numbers. Before 2012, there was no scientific data that girls in this age range were developing gender dysphoria at all. But today, groups of female friends in colleges, high schools, and even middle schools are coming out as "transgender." Many of these girls had never experienced discomfort in their biological sex until they heard a speaker at a school assembly, discovered trans "influencers" on the Internet or had it suggested in therapy.
Prior to 2012, discomfort in one's biological sex was rare, found in less than .01 percent of the population. It started in early childhood (age 2-4) and afflicted mostly males.
"The rigid lines around gender and sexuality are just opening up for everybody," Hammack said. "Young people are just doing it…. They're leading this revolution, and they're forcing scientists to take a closer look." Are things just opening up—or are kids with issues (anxiety, depression, etc.) being influenced by our changing culture?
Of the Generation Z adults identifying as LGBT, 72 percent said they identify as bisexual. In the previous generation (Millennials, born 1981-1996), about half of the LGBT identified as bisexual.
When compared to previous generations, the bisexual increase is jarring. Eleven and a half percent of Generation Z adults identify as bisexual. The number for Millennials is 5.1 percent. Generation X (born 1965-1980) comes in at 1.8 percent bisexual. Baby boomers (born 1946-1964) only have 0.3 percent, and Traditionalists (born before 1946) come in at only 0.3 percent.
Taking a closer look at the bisexual population, we find that women are more likely than men to identify this way. More than 4 percent of women identify as bisexual, while less than 2 percent of men do.
Research from the Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law has similarly found that a key driver of the growth in the LGBT community is a surge in bisexual women and girls.
Why are women and girls more likely to identify as bisexual than men and boys? Kerith Conron, research director at the Williams Institute, has a theory: "my theory would be its more acceptable for girls to identify as bisexual. The policing of young people is particularly pronounced for boys to be masculine, and for girls, to be bisexual isn't necessarily perceived as a significant deviation from femininity."
These statistics on sexuality are interesting when comparing them to recent surveys on religion in the United States. Recent surveys suggest that the United States is secularizing (promoting non-religious values) more rapidly than any other country in the world. In the 1950s, over 90 percent of Americans identified as Christian. The most recent surveys show that only about 68 percent of Americans now identify as Christian.
One young person in Maryland who identifies as nonbinary (neither male nor female) tells of growing up scrolling through gay memes on Instagram and following transgender influencers on YouTube. This same person attended a middle school where they were taught lessons about sexual orientation and gender identity in health class.
I do believe the Internet and schools have played a part in influencing our youth. But there are other reasons why our young adults are increasingly experimenting in the area of sexuality. I believe another major factor is the parents of our young people are no longer following our God. Parents have the greatest opportunity to influence our young people and many are not teaching biblical principles to our young.
Another more recent problem is censorship. Three years ago, conservative author Ryan Anderson wrote a book titled When Harry Became Sally. In the book, Anderson argues that America's growing acceptance of transgenderism has more to do with ideology than science. The book became a best seller on Amazon, but now Amazon is no longer selling the book.
I believe America will soon reach a tipping point from which it will not be able to return to God. We may have already achieved it. Sexuality is only one sign of many that we are losing our way as a nation.
In Romans 1:20, God lets us know He has revealed Himself to us by what He has made. Genesis 1:26-27 tells us He made us male and female to mirror the image of God. In Genesis 2:24, we learn that a male and female come together to become one like God. God also wanted man and woman to increase in number (Genesis 1:28). The reason for this increase was for God to create a family (Romans 8:14-17). We as a nation claim to know God, but our actions say otherwise. God warns us (Romans 1:21-27) He will turn us over to our sinful desires when we fall away from Him.
I have sympathy for the LGBT community. The reasons people become LGBT are complex and varied. But just like lust and adultery are sexual sins (Matthew 5:27-28), so is sex within the LGBT community (Romans 1:21-27). Only Jesus Christ can give everyone the completeness they need.
Sources:
"1 in 6 Adults in Gen Z Identify as LGBT, Survey Finds," by Samantha Schmidt, in The Washington Post, February 25, 2021.
Religion's Sudden Decline, by Ronald E. Inglehart, (New York: Oxford University Press), 2021.
"Ryan Anderson's Book on Transgender People is Causing an Uproar," by Ariana Eunjung Cha, The Washington Post, February 2, 2018, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2018/02/02/ryan-andersons-book-calling-transgender-people-mentally-ill-is-creating-an-uproar/.
"An Amazon Book Burning," by Wesley J. Smith, The Epoch Times, February 25, 2021.
Irreversible Damage, by Abigail Shrier, (Washington D.C.: Regnery Publishing), 2020.