One In Six Gen-Z Adults Say They’re LGBT – Why The Sudden Increase?

The LGBT community in the United States has dramatically increased over time, according to a new Gallup poll published on Wednesday. It shows that one in six adults in Generation Z (born between 1997 - 2002) identify as part of the LGBT. But what is the reason behind the sudden increase?

in 2011, demographer Gary Gates, who is a part of the LGBT community himself, released "a review of population-based surveys on the topic, estimating that 3.5% of adults in the United States identify as lesbian, gay, or bisexual, with bisexuals making up a slight majority of that figure."

Other surveys came to conclusions similar to Gates', and even as recently as 2017, a Gallup poll put the total percentage of Americans who identify as LGBT at 4.5%. The newest Gallup poll, however, puts that number at 5.6%.

In an article for The Stream, Dr. Michael Brown, a senior contributor to The Stream and host of the Line of Fire radio program, explained the possible reasons why there was a dramatic shift among these young adults.

Brown explained that there are two possible reasons for this:

One, being the majority of these young adults were hiding their identities in the past but is now more confident to be out and proud, and the second possibility is that they are being influenced by the society around them which adds to their perception of being part of the LGBT demographic themselves.

This would suggest that LGBT identity is not innate, but it can also be a result of perception and peer pressure.

Is Growing Acceptance Leading to More Widespread LGBT Behavior?

Different communities not just in America, but around the globe, have displayed massive support and acceptance of the LGBT community which may be a reason for some young adults to freely express themselves more, Brown noted.

But the percentage of those who have identified as such has remained fairly steady over the years in communities such as in America who have shown tremendous acceptance of the LGBT.

That is why this reason does not seem adequate in explaining the significant spike in young adults who identify as LGBT, Brown argued.

"Instead, this spike should be seen as the result of the constant, pro-LGBT bombardment of children, beginning with the school system literally brainwashing children from their earliest days regarding LGBT identity," Brown added, pertaining to the constant exposure of toddlers to drag queens.

What Led Americans to Vastly Overestimate the Percentage of Gay and Lesbians in America?

A Gallup poll shows that "Americans estimated that 21% of men were gay and that 22% of women were lesbian." By 2011, "U.S. adults, on average, estimate that 25% of Americans are gay or lesbian," which led to young adults thinking that almost 1 in 3 Americans were gay or lesbian.

Brown also surveyed a group of high school students four years ago, asking what percentage of Americans do they think are gay or lesbians. On average, the students put 30 percent or more.

Brown explained that there is a possibility that the disproportionate representation of (and celebration of) LGBT characters on TV and Hollywood and comic books, not to mention the talking points in children's schools, contributed to this misperception.

Entertainment Portrays Far More Gay People Than Evangelical Christians

In 2001, conservative critic Michael Medved noted that "A Martian gathering evidence about American society, simply by monitoring our television, would certainly assume that there were more gay people in America than there are evangelical Christian," even though Evangelical Christians consists of 20-30 percent of the population at that time, a far greater percentage than those who identify as gay or lesbian.

"In the current Gallup poll, the significant percentage of LGBT adults identifying as bisexual (54.6%) is quite striking, massively higher than the "slight majority" that Gates found in 2011. In other words, they are not identifying as exclusively gay or lesbian. Rather, they are expressing potential attraction to both sexes."

But Brown explained that these findings are not that surprising knowing how much young adults are exposed to bisexual images and even adult films where gender boundaries are often blurred.

Some Teenagers Experiencing "Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria"

There is an increase of evidence that suggests teenagers, especially females, are more prone to identify themselves as transgender in a mistaken effort to overcome some of their emotional struggles.

Brown quoted a statement by Parents of Rapid-Onset Gender Dysphoria (ROGD) kids which reads:

"We are a group of parents whose children have suddenly-seemingly out of the blue-decided they identify strongly with the opposite sex and are at various stages in transitioning. This is a new phenomenon that has only recently been identified. Researchers are calling it Rapid-Onset Gender Dysphoria (ROGD), and it is an epidemic among our most vulnerable youth.

Our children are young, naïve, and impressionable, many of them are experiencing emotional or social difficulties. They are strongly influenced by their peers and by the media, who are promoting the transgender lifestyle as popular, desirable, and the solution to all of their problems. And they are being misled by authority figures, such as teachers, doctors, and counselors, who rush to "affirm' their chosen gender without ever questioning why."

As per an article from the UK's Prospect Magazine, it says, "Transsexuality is a talking point like never before, and a glance at the figures sheds some light on why. The number of children, in particular, being referred to the Tavistock and Portman Foundation Trust's gender identity development service (Gids)-the NHS service through which all UK candidates for a sex change under 18 are funnelled-is up from 77 in 2009 to 2,590 in 2018-9."

Thus, "alarm bells have begun to ring among a handful of psychiatric professionals about the number of teenage girls arriving at the Tavistock's door and the nature of their treatment."

Realizing the Deception Raging in Our Culture Should Give Us Compassion

Abigail Shrier, a journalist for The Wall Street Journal, documented the transgender movement in her book "Irreversible Damage" as well as Ryan Anderson who also addressed transgenderism in his book "When Harry Became Sally."

That is why Brown said he is now surprised that more adults from Gen Z are now identifying as Transgender, along with the other LGBT personas.

Brown also guaranteed that many years from now, these people will no longer identify as part of the LGBT because being part of the LGBT is simply considered "cool" for other people, even if they do not really identify as such.

"All the more, then, do we need to hold fast to solid, biblically-based, sexual and family values, also showing greater compassion to those whom the culture has so strongly (and wrongly) influenced," Brown said.