A new Gallup survey finds that nearly 10 percent of Americans identify as LGBTQ+, up by two-thirds from the 2020 survey of 14,000 adults. Nearly one-quarter of Gen Z adults, those who are age 18 to 27, identify as part of the community. Notably, 1.3 percent of respondents identified as transgender, up from 0.6 percent in 2020. This is particularly significant since the Trump administration has taken dangerous actions to eliminate and erase trans people from public life through Executive Orders and agency actions. Florida LGBTQ+ Democratic President Kristen Browde issued the following statement:
“The illegal and unconstitutional Musk/Trump executive orders attempting to discriminate against 4.4 million transgender Americans will not stand. And no matter what the courts do, the 34 million LGBTQ+ voters will join with other pro-equality voters to rise up to end right wing Republican control of the nation. As an older transgender woman, I’ve seen the fear caused by the foolish attempts to erase transgender people and make their lives more difficult, and while I know how to navigate this level of petty nonsense, younger trans Americans may not have the skills and experience to process the hatred they’re receiving from adults and elected officials who should be protecting them.
“As more Americans refuse to hide their true selves and identify openly as LGBTQ+, they will realize that being LGBTQ+ is political. They will become an organized and powerful force that will turn back the deliberate toxicity that the Republicans are foisting on our society. Republicans need to realize that they stand on the wrong side of history in their quest to invent a new, sanitized vision of America, one that never existed and never will.”