More Americans than ever are identifying as LGBTQ, a major new study says

5.6 per cent of Americans fit underneath the LGBT+ umbrella, according to new data, marking a new record.

Gallup recently conducted a survey of 15,000 adults that revealed more people than ever describe themselves as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or queer.

This is an increase from their 2017 poll which showed that 4.5 per cent of people said these labels applied to them.

Younger people are more likely to identify as LGBTQ, the survey shows. Some 16 per cent of Generation Z considered themselves to be LGBTQ while 2 per cent of those over 56 did.

“Younger people are growing up in an environment where being gay, lesbian or bisexual is not as taboo as it was in the past,” Gallup editor Jeffrey Jones told NBC News.

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“So they may just feel more comfortable telling an interviewer in a telephone survey how they describe themselves. In the past, people would maybe be more reluctant.”

Jasper Scharwtz, a teenager from Maryland described their experience of being non-binary toThe Washington Post, saying all their friends are “queer in some way.”

The study, conducted last year, sought to gather more detail than previously, which only asked questions with yes or no answers.

The switch to a more open-ended discussion allowed for more information to be recorded.

Changing social attitudes mirror these findings as a 2020 Gallup poll acknowledged a 13 per cent increase in support for same-sex marriage, up to 67 per cent from 53 per cent in 2012.

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