The New York Times, July 2023
What’s the correct number of lesbians? Gay men? Bisexuals? Trans people? Is there a number that is too high? Too low? Just right?
Every year, Gallup releases a survey of how many Americans identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (L.G.B.T.). The 2023 edition found it was about 7 percent. That percentage has held relatively steady over the past three years, but it is about double the percentage in 2012 (3.4 percent). Perhaps most notably, the number of transgender Americans has increased, as has the number of people who identify as nonbinary.
A lot has happened over the past decade, a lot of it to the benefit of L.G.B.T. people. This is the best time in American history to be L.G.B.T., with the proviso that the bar for such an achievement is incredibly, unspeakably low. Marriage equality is now the law of the land, and more people know someone who is trans now than they did a few years ago. Many people now live in public, too, sharing our lives on social media with strangers. There are more visibly L.G.B.T. people because there are more visible people, period.
