More than one in four US Gen Z adults identify as something other than straight, survey finds

Main points

• About 26% of Gen Z adults identify as something other than straight.
• Bisexuality is the most common non-straight identity at 13%.
• Younger Americans are more likely to use diverse identity labels.

More than one in four Generation Z adults in the United States identify as something other than straight, according to a 2023 Business Insider and YouGov survey, highlighting differences in how younger and older Americans describe their sexuality and gender.

The survey found that 74% of Americans aged 18 to 26 identified as straight, while 26% used other identities. This compared with 15% of millennials, 11% of Generation X and 7% of baby boomers.

The findings, highlighted in a World Visualized infographic, suggest that younger Americans are more willing to describe their identities using a wider range of terms.

Among Gen Z respondents, 13% identified as bisexual, making it the most common identity after straight.

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Another 5% identified as gay, 5% as queer and 5% as non-binary. Transgender and asexual identities each accounted for 4%, while 3% identified as lesbian and another 3% as pansexual.

The survey allowed respondents to select multiple identities, meaning the percentages overlap and should not be added together. It also included both sexual orientation and gender identity categories, which describe different aspects of a person's identity.

Gen Z differs sharply from older generations

The survey found that bisexual identification was more common among younger adults. While 13% of Gen Z respondents identified as bisexual, the figure was 7% among millennials, 4% among Generation X and 1% among baby boomers.

The term queer was also more widely used among Gen Z, at 5%, compared with about 1% of millennials and Generation X.

Researchers have suggested that these differences may reflect greater openness about sexuality and gender rather than necessarily showing that younger generations have fundamentally different identities.

The Business Insider and YouGov survey included 1,880 US adults, of whom 647 were Gen Z respondents aged 18 to 26.

Although the findings date from 2023, they offer a snapshot of how younger Americans were describing their identities at the time, particularly their greater use of labels beyond traditional categories.