Gen Z is Coming Out

Rainbow pride flag held up to the sky

A survey released by Gallup on Feb. 24, 2021 found more U.S. adults identifying as LGBT than ever before. Now, 5.6% of the adult population identifies as something other than heterosexual, a 1.1% increase since 2017.

The survey was based on 15,000 interviews conducted in 2020 of individuals 18 and older, but unlike the 2017 survey, data from Generation Z was collected.

From this data, Gallup concluded that one in six Gen Zs identify themselves as LGBT.

While there has been measured growth in LGBTQIA+ public approval since Gallup’s first survey in 1977, what is less clear is whether there is a shift in sexual orientation or if the willingness of people to identify as LGBTQIA+ has changed.

Line graph that shows the percentage of U.S. adults identifying as LGBT since 2012
The percentage of U.S. adults identifying as LGBT over time since 2012.

Progress Within Iowa

Damian Thompson, director of public policy and communications at Iowa Safe Schools, believes that the Gen Z spike is reflective of the major strides being made in the name of LGBTQIA+ equality in the time Gen Z has been alive.

“Gen Zers feel more safe, more comfortable expressing themselves publicly, showing the world their true identity, and not fearing that they are going to be discriminated against or face backlash in some way, shape, or form,” Thompson says.

Organizations like Iowa Safe Schools are dedicated to creating safe spaces for LGBTQIA+ and allied youth to express themselves and their identities. In the past two years alone, Iowa Safe Schools has impacted the lives of more than 10,000 students through LGBTQIA+ student programming.

“Every single day multiple people are interacting with students ensuring that they have the resources to grow up, be successful, be healthy, and pursue the life path that they want to,” Thompson says.

In addition to helping students directly, Iowa Safe Schools has also made progress through their lobbying efforts and community forums to advocate for student protections.

Through these efforts, LGBTQIA+ protections in Iowa have changed significantly. Iowa added language of gender identity and sexual orientation into the Iowa Civil Rights Act in 2007, was one of the leading states in same-sex marriage equality in 2009, and recently extended employment protections to LGBTQIA+ individuals after Iowa Supreme Court case Bostock v. Clayton County in 2020.

“We still have a long way to go and Iowans, especially transgender Iowans, are facing a lot of discrimination and hate right now,” Thompson says. “I can only see as generations continue and equality continues to progress that more and more folks will feel comfortable expressing themselves.”

Pie chart that reads Gallup statistics regarding the makeup on how Gen Z identifies themselves.
The make up of how Gen Z identifies themselves according to the Gallup survey.

Halle Baldwin’s Story

Halle Baldwin, a junior at University of Alabama-Birmingham, is a representative of the one in six Gen Zs who identify as LGBT. Coming to terms with her attraction to more than one gender identity at a young age, she never felt it was important to “come out” formally.

“Part of the idea of coming out is perpetuated by this idea that the default is straight,” Baldwin says. “I think that when we stop thinking like that, there will be no need to come out.”

When Baldwin began dating her first girlfriend her senior year of high school, she decided to treat the situation like any other relationship. As it came up in conversation, she told her friends and family that she had a girlfriend and left them to put the pieces together. 

“I actually lost some friends, and it made me feel like maybe I should’ve kept it to myself,” Baldwin says. “Was it really worth losing friends over? It was. There were a lot of people who saw me and my girlfriend and thought ‘I can do that, too.’”

Baldwin credits the overall growth of Gen Zs being willing to identify as LGBTQIA+ with the presence of LGBTQIA+ individuals in traditional and social media.

According to a 2017-2018 report by GLAAD, 58 out of 901 characters on primetime television identified as LGBTQIA+. This represents 6.8% of the character population, even higher than the projected 5.6% of U.S. adults who identify as LGBTQIA+.

On the social media side, Baldwin believes the influence of the app, TikTok, has allowed Gen Z to connect with individuals in the LGBTQIA+ community and learn more about their experiences.

“People can see other people who are out, who are proud, who are talking about their experiences, and they think ‘I can do that too,’” Baldwin says. “If someone grew up in a very rural area where they’ve never seen a gay person before, they might not even know it’s an option.”

Baldwin encourages anyone who might be questioning to try not getting caught up in choosing a label.

“Sometimes you just don’t know, but you can be a part of the community without a label,” Baldwin says. “It’s a very accepting, excited group who just wants things to change for the better.”

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