Poll claims over 9% of Americans now identify as LGBTQ+

MASON CITY – The percentage of Americans identifying as LGBTQ+ is rising, a new poll claims, now reaching heights above 9%.

The poll was released today by Gallup.

LGBTQ+ stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or non-heterosexual. Gallups reports that the 9.3% rate is 1 percentage point higher than last year, and practically doubled since 2020.

According to Gallup, younger generations are leading the charge into this so-called alternative lifestyle:

“LGBTQ+ identification is increasing as younger generations of Americans enter adulthood and are much more likely than older generations to say they are something other than heterosexual. More than one in five Gen Z adults — those born between 1997 and 2006, who were between the ages of 18 and 27 in 2024 — identify as LGBTQ+. Each older generation of adults, from millennials to the Silent Generation, has successively lower rates of identification, down to 1.8% among the oldest Americans, those born before 1946.”

If you are local to the North Iowa area and are interested in the LGBTQ+ lifestyle, or harbor curiosities, you may attend the Mason City, IA LGBTQ Pride parade, usually held each summer in recent years.  With a little searching, you may even find a drag event to attend.

In Iowa, gay marriage remains legal, and it is not especially uncommon to see folks tying the knot.

(TOP PHOTO of a same-sex couple after marriage in Mason City.)