Generational Differences in U.S. Sexual Orientation

A total of 10 percent of U.S. adults aged 18-64 identify as part of the LGBTQ+ community, according to data from Statista Consumer Insights. On average, 5 percent identify as bisexual and 3 percent as homosexual, while another 1 percent prefer pansexual as their self-identification. As the following chart shows, the proportion of people who do not identify as heterosexual is significantly lower among the older generations.

In the Baby Boomer group of participants, 95 percent see themselves as heterosexual. In Generation X, the figure is 94 percent. The first major generational shift can be observed among Millennials. For those born between 1980 and 1994, the figure is 90 percent. Another jump is then made when looking at the Gen Z results - here just 82 percent identify as heterosexual. The most common non-heterosexual response among Gen Z participants was bisexual, at 9 percent. The differences between the generations for those identifying as homosexual was minimal - 3 percent for Millennials and Gen X, and 4 percent for Gen Z and Baby Boomers.