LGBTQ Identification has Nearly Tripled in 12 Years. Why?

Spencer Macnaughton | Uncloseted Media Weekly Newsletter

Since 2012, Gallup has put out a poll outlining how likely Americans are to identify as LGBTQ. In their latest findings, released earlier this month, they found that 9.3% of U.S. adults identify as LGBTQ. This figure has nearly doubled since 2020 and is up from 3.5% in 2012.

Why are these numbers exploding?

Well, as society and culture have become more accepting of LGBTQ people—with Gen Z leading the charge—there is less at stake when it comes to coming out. More than one in five (22.7%) Gen Z adults identify as LGBTQ. But each older generation of adults, from millennials to the Silent Generation, has successively lower identification rates, dropping down to 1.8% among the oldest Americans—those born before 1946.

When I read the report, I was thrilled about how comfortable younger folks are with being LGBTQ in 2025. But it also made me feel sad for older Americans. There are likely millions of people in this country still trapped in a closet, living an unwanted life of heterosexuality or as a gender they don’t identify with. I think about a 60-something-year-old Georgia cattle rancher I once interviewed, who’s been married with kids for decades but who sneaks out to Atlanta to hook up with men on the low. I think about all the later-in-life lesbians who came out decades after having full-fledged families with male partners.

These millions of stories involve lost years for closeted gay people. These folks never had a high school hook-up with a real crush. They didn’t lose their virginity to someone they were actually attracted to. They didn’t share the first dance of their wedding with someone they deeply, passionately and romantically loved. And every day, they have had to present in costume; let’s call it “heterosexual drag.” They have had to perform straightness while concealing their real, human desires for the same sex.

This suppression can cause real trauma. And there are closeted folks in every county of every state who have endured this trauma for a lifetime.

What can we do?

We need to show allyship. We need to open up space for folks to feel comfortable telling us a secret. And hopefully, every day that we inch toward more progress (even if the curve isn’t linear), more and more folks in the older generations will muster the courage to come out. My hope is that every day, there will be 70-, 80- and 90-year-olds experiencing their first enjoyable hookup, their first romantic kiss and their first date with those nauseating butterflies that every human deserves to experience before they leave this earth.

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• Lawmakers in 9 states propose measures to undermine same-sex marriage rights (NBC News)

  • A Michigan Republican introduced a resolution Tuesday urging the Supreme Court to reverse its 2015 Obergefell v. Hodges same-sex marriage ruling.

• LGBTQ Federal Workers Brace for a McCarthyist Purge (Mother Jones)

  • “They’re not asking people, ‘Are you gay? Are you lesbian?’ They’re asking, ‘Who is participating in DEI?'”

• Whitmer on Republican lawmaker’s same-sex marriage resolution: ‘Hell no’ (The Hill)

  • Michigan Democrats, including Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, are pushing back against a Republican-led resolution asking the Supreme Court to reverse its decision that legalized same-sex marriage nationwide.

• Groups Helping LGBTQ Victims of Violence Could Face a Catastrophic Loss of Federal Funding (The 19th)

  • These nonprofits say there’s no way for them to do their work and comply with Trump’s executive orders.

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• We went live on Monday with Jax Seeger, a friend of Sam Nordquist, a trans man who was killed in New York. Jax spoke about why they think the seven suspects in their friend’s murder should have their charges elevated from second to first-degree. Watch the interview below:

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This weekend, be on the lookout for new Uncloseted reporting:

• 🆕 West Wilson isn’t your typical Bravo bro. Since he popped up the network’s flagship show “Summer House” last year, he quickly became a fan favorite as the self-aware sports journalist who The New York Times described as “The New Number One Guy in the Group.” In the second installment of Beneath the Grid, we talk to West about masculinity in 2025, the loneliness epidemic among men, and how far-right influencers shape bro culture. He also explains why he proudly voted for Kamala Harris.

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Thanks for reading! Feel free to email me with questions, complaints, tips, and story ideas!

Spencer Macnaughton, Editor-In-Chief

spencer@unclosetedmedia.com

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