Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2024/01/29/almost-30-of-gen-z-adults-are-lgbtq.html
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I guess Gen Z got the message… 
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And what about millennials?
I didn’t want to download a PDF on my phone, or I would have checked myself.
PS: @pesco : the link to the PDF is broken, it has a chrome extension tag before the URL
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I’m almost 50… still not entirely clear on what all the Q encompasses (maybe that’s the point? it’s a bucket for “I reject the social norms”?). I suspect if that’s the case the B and the Q are doing a lot of heavy lifting?
I mean I’ve always chafed at gender norms but society at large views me as straight white male and I while I feel that’s woefully inadequate description and weirdly restrictive it’s never been impediment (shocker right?) unless some dude-bro didn’t think I was manly enough or some such nonsense. So maybe if I was 20-25 years younger I’d be more inclined to identify as a part of that group. Don’t really know.
I guess I think it’s rare that any individual fits so nicely in any single bucket.
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So, nearly a third of the way to a peaceful planet.
I’m all in on this.
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I work with a bunch of Gen Z individuals and I get the impression they are totally comfortable with LGBTQ and issues around diversity. It’s taken as being totally normal and uncontroversial. Which is wonderful.
They seem to me (anecdotally) to be more likely to identify as being on the autism spectrum. Which is interesting. They just assumed that I was too which has given me cause for thought…
And oddly, they seem to have suffered disproportionately more under covid/lockdown than the Gen Xers that I assosiate with, and consequently are more likely to be undergoing treatment for mental health issues.
They’re weird little fuckers but I love 'em!
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So if I hear you correctly, we just need to crack the “full automation”, “luxury” and “space Communism” parts and we’ll be well on our way to fully automated luxury gay space Communism? Excellent news.
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Interesting. That bodes well that society as a whole has become accepting enough for people to be honest in polls. Keep it up.
The kids are alright.
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Indeed; and they now out number registered Republican voters. 
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Let me help a bit:
L esbian
G ay
B isexual
T rans
Q ueer (i.e. genderfluid, non-binary, or gender non-conforming (GNC))
I ntersex
A sexual / aromantic (aka ace, aro or both (acearo)
+ = pretty much everyone else. (and that does include cishet people!)
Signed, an enby who checks the “T”, “Q”, and “A” monikers.
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And for anyone who tries to whine at me that “queer is a slur!”- It’s been reclaimed. I’m queer as in “eff you”. 
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Whispers, if you feel “straight white male” is a woefully inadequate description and weirdly restrictive… you might be queer, depending on how much and what part of your self-identity falls outside that restrictive nomenclature. It’s fully up to you.
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Fascinating, encouraging and a big “fuck you” to the evangelicals trying to weaponize homophobia, now that there’s more queer people than evangelicals in the younger generation. (Yeah, that is the future that liberals wanted.)
It also seems to be, at least in some small part, a result of the right-wing culture wars. A lot of young people seem to be rejecting (conservative) gender roles - which apparently have become more rigid than previous decades - by identifying as non-binary. (I don’t know how much of this is also related to the ideological split along gender lines with young people, a result of gender-segregated internet cultures, with young men being far more conservative than women.)
It’s also interesting to see definitions change. I was reading people on Twitter explaining that a “bi” identity was valid even if someone didn’t have any romantic or sexual interest in the same sex, which I confess left me somewhat (pleasantly) confused. (I still don’t get it. What they seemed to be describing was pretty much what my generation would have identified as “heterosexual,” and I’m not sure where the new category boundaries lie.) A more inclusive queerness is cool, given the complex and shifting nature of sexual desire and identity, but especially compared to the binary othering of LGBT (or more often just “gay and lesbian”) people when I was coming of age.
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Or they are simply more willing to seek treatment and/or discuss themselves seeking treatment? The stigma on mental health/illness and neurodiversity seems less in their generation and hopefully less still in the generations born after. Which is a good thing IMHO. As is how comfortable younger people feel about sharing their sexuality.
It’s good for everyone to be accepting and explore who we are
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I would bet that the percentages of people who are actually LGBTQ are similar across generations and that the main difference is willingness to answer a survey honestly (not to mention being honest with one’s self).
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So, basically a group that spans those who can vote in 8 years and those who can vote now. 30%. No wonder the GOP is so frightened of them and stoke anti-LGBTQ hatred and violence.
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Also I don’t think most people in previous generations really thought about the spectrum of human sexuality in the same terms and labels we use today. A gender-curious person like Ed Wood would just be labeled a straight guy with a cross-dressing fetish, a person with little or no interest in sex would have been labeled “frigid” instead of asexual and so on.
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Yeah, this is the kind of generational shift I like to see. I don’t think these young adults are all just trying to fit in—I just think the veil is being pulled back now that so many feel empowered to be their truest selves.
Of course, I used to believe the moral arc or the universe indeed bent toward justice, but progress is fragile. You never defeat cowardice and bigotry. You simply go on fighting it.
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I agree. It’s not that more people identify as being LGBTQ so much as it’s been destigmatized to the point where younger generations don’t feel any shame around it. And that’s a very good thing.
I grew up in the 80s where AIDS dominated news coverage, gay panic was considered a reasonable legal defense, and there was so much casual homophobia that the “f” slur was being thrown around in kids’ movies FFS.
I’m glad that we’re finally at a point where most people realize that what you decide to do (or not do) with your genitals and with whom (if you want to) really isn’t a cause for concern assuming all parties are willing participants.
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I very much hope this spells the beginning of progress, after the dark age that feels like it’s defined the later half of my life so far. Being LGBTQ or young doesn’t automatically prevent someone from being monstrous, but widespread acceptance of all sexual orientations and gender identities would be a massive step forward, even if it’s the only step I get to see.
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