00:00:00
Gen Z is coming out and coming in
00:00:02
strong. One in five now identify as
00:00:05
LGBTQ and that's not just a trend, it's
00:00:08
a cultural earthquake. But what's
00:00:10
exactly behind this dramatic change? Is
00:00:12
it a generational awakening or is there
00:00:14
more beneath the surface? Find out in
00:00:16
this episode of the infographic show.
00:00:18
Why 20% of Gen Z identifies as LGBTQ?
00:00:22
And don't forget to hit subscribe. The
00:00:23
LGBTQ community, commonly just called
00:00:26
queer as an umbrella, isn't a new thing.
00:00:28
It's always been a part of society.
00:00:30
Throughout history, you'll find stories
00:00:32
of people who lived a little
00:00:33
differently, even if there was no term
00:00:35
for them. Maybe it was a Roman emperor
00:00:37
who loved dressing in women's clothing
00:00:39
because really, who's going to stop him?
00:00:41
Or a woman who dawned a suit to land a
00:00:43
job that no woman could get and maybe
00:00:45
kept wearing it long after hours. Then
00:00:48
there's that pair of World War II
00:00:49
veterans who never married, opened a
00:00:51
flower shop, lived together for 55
00:00:53
years, and were buried side by side.
00:00:55
Just close friends. Sure, let's go with
00:00:57
that. But there is no question the
00:01:00
culture is now more open than it's ever
00:01:01
been. It's generally considered to have
00:01:03
gone mainstream with the riots at the
00:01:05
Stonewall Tavern in New York. And since
00:01:07
then, the community has seen big
00:01:09
advances. First, they were fighting for
00:01:11
representation on TV and then for gay
00:01:13
marriage. Today, many of the hot button
00:01:15
topics center around the attempts to ban
00:01:17
books centering around queer characters
00:01:20
and the rights of transgender people to
00:01:22
play sports or use bathrooms as the
00:01:24
gender they live as. And while there has
00:01:26
been increased push back, the movement
00:01:28
doesn't look like it's backing down
00:01:29
anytime soon. And that is partially
00:01:31
because the children are the future.
00:01:33
When it comes to social issues, younger
00:01:35
generations almost always lead the way.
00:01:37
Progress tends to move in one direction
00:01:39
forward. Once something is legalized or
00:01:41
widely accepted, it's rarely rolled
00:01:43
back. The momentum sticks. This was
00:01:46
definitely the case with civil rights,
00:01:48
with marijuana, and with gay marriage.
00:01:50
The one exception is abortion, which has
00:01:52
a much stronger religious element and
00:01:54
sees similar patterns across
00:01:55
generations. But in the case of gay
00:01:58
marriage, polls indicate that 74% of
00:02:00
millennials and 69% of Gen Z support
00:02:03
keeping it legal. And whether you like
00:02:05
it or not, for one month of the year,
00:02:07
it's impossible to avoid this movement.
00:02:09
Pride Month in June every year started
00:02:11
out as an underground rebellion against
00:02:13
a repressive society that refused to let
00:02:15
people be themselves. Since then, it's
00:02:17
turned into an open celebration of
00:02:19
everything rainbow with massive parades
00:02:21
held in most major cities around the
00:02:23
world. And of course, when there's a
00:02:24
profit to be made, the corporations are
00:02:26
on the case. Big companies are known to
00:02:28
cloak themselves in the rainbow and sell
00:02:31
branded pride merch every year. Some
00:02:33
queer people snark about rainbow
00:02:34
capitalism, but others say that it shows
00:02:37
that catering to them is more profitable
00:02:39
than catering to their opponents, and
00:02:41
the future of the movement is likely to
00:02:42
rest in the hands of a single
00:02:44
generation. Gen Z may still be in their
00:02:46
teens, but the oldest amongst them born
00:02:48
in 1997 are already young adults. In
00:02:51
fact, that means the oldest ones are
00:02:53
already approaching 30, which is in no
00:02:55
doubt causing an existential crisis. And
00:02:57
the current group of young people is
00:02:59
having a huge impact on the culture.
00:03:01
They're tech-savvy, politically
00:03:03
polarized, and very into short form
00:03:05
online content and one of the most
00:03:07
diverse groups we've ever seen. And
00:03:09
they're also, if you believe the polls,
00:03:11
very queer. According to a 2023 poll,
00:03:14
7.6% of Americans identify as being on
00:03:17
the LGBTQ spectrum. That number has more
00:03:21
than doubled since a similar poll back
00:03:22
in 2012. However, when you look
00:03:24
specifically at Gen Z, you get an even
00:03:27
more surprising number. A whopping 28%
00:03:30
of Gen Z Americans identify as queer.
00:03:32
And it's likely the number is going to
00:03:34
keep growing. It's enough to make you
00:03:36
wonder if, as your weird uncle Lester
00:03:38
keeps insisting, the government is
00:03:40
putting something in the water to turn
00:03:42
everyone gay. But the actual answer
00:03:44
might be a lot closer to home. There are
00:03:46
many theories about why this is
00:03:47
happening. And the most likely answer is
00:03:50
that people haven't actually changed.
00:03:52
Society has. For the longest time, it
00:03:54
wasn't safe to openly identify as queer.
00:03:56
At first, the pressing threat was the
00:03:58
police. Not only was it illegal for gay
00:04:01
people to get married for most of
00:04:02
history, but sodomy laws weren't even
00:04:04
repealed by the Supreme Court until the
00:04:07
early 2000s. For parents, there was the
00:04:09
threat of losing their children if they
00:04:11
came out of the closet. And of course,
00:04:13
there was the social stigma as well. It
00:04:15
was common for queer teenagers to be
00:04:17
kicked out of the house or sent to camps
00:04:19
that claimed that they could cure people
00:04:21
of their homosexuality. And so, as
00:04:23
society has changed, so did the people
00:04:25
in it. While laws can change, some
00:04:27
people in society will never be
00:04:29
accepting of the community. But the
00:04:30
balance has tilted. A parent who kicks
00:04:33
their queer kid out of the house might
00:04:34
lose a lot of friends. A baker who
00:04:36
refuses to bake a cake for a gay
00:04:38
marriage will likely face a costly legal
00:04:40
battle, even if he ultimately wins the
00:04:42
argument that he can't be forced to work
00:04:44
with a client he doesn't agree with. And
00:04:46
a soccer hooligan who beats up a gay man
00:04:48
will find himself in the dock facing
00:04:50
hate crimes charges in most areas. And
00:04:52
that means that more people than ever
00:04:53
finally feel safe to be themselves. And
00:04:56
it's not just young people. There's been
00:04:57
a noticeable rise in LGBTQ elders coming
00:05:00
out later in life. Take 72-year-old
00:05:02
comic book writer Jenny Blake Isabella,
00:05:04
who came out as a trans woman in 2025.
00:05:07
But what about the kids? They didn't
00:05:09
grow up in this previous world. The
00:05:11
reason for the shift among the younger
00:05:13
might be even bigger. As the world's
00:05:15
attitudes toward queer people shift, so
00:05:17
does the culture around it. And it's
00:05:18
never been easier to see a positive
00:05:20
portrayal of queer characters in the
00:05:22
media. During the 80s and '90s, most
00:05:24
portrayals of gay characters centered
00:05:26
around homophobia or AIDS. The first
00:05:28
exposure many people had was the tragic
00:05:30
musical Rent, which saw a diverse group
00:05:32
of friends in New York slowly dwindle
00:05:34
from the AIDS crisis. Even the more
00:05:36
positive, light-hearted portrayals, like
00:05:38
the comedy The Bird Cage, would
00:05:40
frequently center around trying to hide
00:05:41
the truth or struggling with coming out.
00:05:44
But especially for teenagers, the world
00:05:46
has changed. These days, it's hard to
00:05:48
turn on a teen drama without spotting at
00:05:50
least one queer character. Even iconic
00:05:52
heroes are joining in. Recent comic arcs
00:05:55
have revealed one of the Robins and
00:05:56
Superman's son as bisexual. In the
00:05:59
middle-grade and young adult literature
00:06:01
world, queer books are a massive money
00:06:03
maker, and even the most famous
00:06:04
entertainment company in the world has
00:06:06
gotten in on it. Disney broke new ground
00:06:08
in the 2020s with The Owl House, a
00:06:10
fantasy cartoon series that saw a
00:06:12
bisexual girl travel to another realm
00:06:14
and fall in love with a young witch. And
00:06:17
supporters say that this normalization
00:06:18
of young queer characters makes kids
00:06:21
struggling with their identity feel more
00:06:22
comfortable and accepted. But could it
00:06:25
be actually changing the identity of
00:06:26
some kids? Detractors of this new wave
00:06:29
of diversity on kids and teens TV and
00:06:31
books say it's putting ideas into kids
00:06:33
heads before they're ready, introducing
00:06:35
them to concepts that they would have no
00:06:37
idea about without it. To which those
00:06:39
advocating for queer kids say, "Have you
00:06:41
ever tried to keep information away from
00:06:43
kids? Those who grew up in the dawn of
00:06:45
the internet era remember just how
00:06:47
quickly boys figured out that they could
00:06:49
search for adult content?" Today, almost
00:06:51
every kid grows up with a smartphone in
00:06:53
their hand, and every bit of information
00:06:55
in the world at the tip of their
00:06:57
fingers, and that's created a different
00:06:59
world of LGBTQ culture than there ever
00:07:02
was before. For those who remember the
00:07:04
early days of the movement, it used to
00:07:06
be broken down much more into specific
00:07:08
groups. The gay rights movement, largely
00:07:11
centered around men who wanted the right
00:07:13
to love other men, was the most
00:07:15
prominent for a while. Lesbians, the
00:07:17
ladies who love ladies, soon started
00:07:19
speaking up and making sure their voices
00:07:21
were heard as well. Bisexuals didn't
00:07:23
start gaining widespread awareness for a
00:07:24
while after that. And the trans
00:07:26
community, whose core issues are very
00:07:28
different, continues to battle to this
00:07:31
day for understanding. While many trans
00:07:33
people did play key roles in the early
00:07:34
days of the movement, it was common for
00:07:36
them to be misunderstood as
00:07:38
crossdressers instead. But today, the
00:07:40
acronym is starting to feel a lot more
00:07:42
like an alphabet. Those core four
00:07:45
letters have been joined by a lot of
00:07:46
other groups looking to make themselves
00:07:48
known and get understanding and
00:07:49
acceptance. Many people have tried to
00:07:51
add additional letters onto the acronym,
00:07:54
but confusion and the arguments about
00:07:55
who actually belongs there have led to
00:07:57
many groups just adding queer to the
00:07:59
end. It acts as an omnibus label for
00:08:01
anyone who identifies as part of this
00:08:03
larger community and wants to join in
00:08:04
the movement. And that's led to a lot of
00:08:06
young people wondering even if they
00:08:08
don't fit under the first four letters,
00:08:10
do they fit under the fifth? And for a
00:08:12
surprising number, the answer is yes.
00:08:14
According to the most recent poll, of
00:08:16
the 28% who identify as queer, only 5%
00:08:20
identify as gay or lesbian. The most
00:08:22
predominant queer identities of the past
00:08:24
are now seen as old hat. Instead, 15%
00:08:27
identify as bisexual, by far the largest
00:08:29
group. Additionally, 8% identify as
00:08:32
something else. What something else?
00:08:34
Well, you have to ask the kids. This
00:08:36
also doesn't take gender into
00:08:38
consideration, and many young people are
00:08:39
discovering that they don't fit into the
00:08:41
standard classifications on that either.
00:08:43
And that's left many parents responding
00:08:45
to their kids coming out moment with,
00:08:47
"Huh?" A lot of new identities, or at
00:08:49
least new to many adults, are entering
00:08:51
the fray. It's estimated that just over
00:08:54
2.8% of Gen Z identifies as transgender,
00:08:57
which is by far the most of any
00:08:59
generation. But it's kind of surprising,
00:09:01
especially given how many times you hear
00:09:03
about that group on cable news. While
00:09:05
only one of 25 Gen Z members might be
00:09:07
trans, that means that on average, every
00:09:09
high school class will have about one
00:09:11
trans kid. That means that just about
00:09:13
every school child will encounter a
00:09:15
trans classmate on a daily basis. And it
00:09:18
might have them asking some questions
00:09:19
about their own identity. Because Gen Z
00:09:21
is also changing the definition of
00:09:23
trans. During the early days of the
00:09:25
trans movement, the focus was often
00:09:27
heavily on passing. Many would move,
00:09:30
starting over with a new name, and seek
00:09:32
medical treatment that would help them
00:09:33
erase any trace of the gender they were
00:09:35
born as. This would include hormone
00:09:37
treatment, clothing that would hide
00:09:39
parts of their anatomy, and ultimately
00:09:41
sex change surgery that would remove
00:09:42
parts of their body that caused them
00:09:44
gender dysphoria. This process was long
00:09:47
and expensive and not accessible to many
00:09:49
people, which often meant that people
00:09:51
were forced into the choice of
00:09:52
sacrificing a lot or not living as their
00:09:55
true self. to which Gen Z seems to be
00:09:57
saying, "You don't tell me what to do."
00:10:00
One of the reasons that the trans
00:10:01
population seems to be booming among Gen
00:10:03
Z is that a lot of these obstacles have
00:10:05
now been removed. It's common for trans
00:10:07
kids to simply announce their new
00:10:09
identity and take on a new name and new
00:10:11
clothing and mannerisms before they can
00:10:13
even think about any medical treatment.
00:10:15
Some identify as trans from a young age
00:10:17
and are only known as their identified
00:10:19
gender by their friends. And while sex
00:10:21
change surgery for minors is exceedingly
00:10:23
rare, it's more common for them to have
00:10:25
access to hormone replacement therapy to
00:10:28
help the transition. And for many, the
00:10:30
answer to their gender is none of the
00:10:32
above. So, what exactly is a non-binary
00:10:34
anyway? The answer is it depends. The
00:10:37
non-binary identity is one that spun out
00:10:39
of the trans movement, and it reflects
00:10:41
someone who doesn't feel like either
00:10:43
gender fully represents who they are
00:10:45
inside. Some non-binary people
00:10:47
transition socially or take hormone
00:10:49
replacement therapy. Others are
00:10:51
comfortable with how they look and feel
00:10:52
and just want people to acknowledge them
00:10:54
with the correct pronouns and terms. As
00:10:56
this identity doesn't come with any real
00:10:58
rules, it's one that many teenagers feel
00:11:00
comfortable taking on to reflect that
00:11:02
they don't fit into a box. And sometimes
00:11:04
none of the above really means that. The
00:11:07
most common variation of LGBTQ is
00:11:10
LGBTQA.
00:11:12
And no, the A does not stand for ally.
00:11:14
Despite what your mom said after she
00:11:16
attended Pride and Support one year, it
00:11:18
typically refers to the Aspectctrum.
00:11:20
Asexual, a-romantic, and agender. This
00:11:23
reflects the community that simply does
00:11:25
not feel the same urges most people do.
00:11:27
Asexuals typically don't have a sex
00:11:29
drive and don't consider it an important
00:11:30
part of their life. A-romantics might
00:11:32
enjoy sex, but they don't feel romantic
00:11:34
connections. And agender people are a
00:11:37
subset of non-binary people who simply
00:11:38
don't identify as any gender and
00:11:40
generally feel that the fuss over gender
00:11:42
is pretty silly. Some people say that
00:11:44
this new spectrum is yet another way to
00:11:46
indoctrinate kids. But can you really be
00:11:49
mad about someone not wanting to do
00:11:51
something? However, there is a
00:11:53
legitimate question. Is this a bandwagon
00:11:55
effect? If there is one thing we know
00:11:57
about teenagers, it's that they want to
00:11:59
belong. Everyone remembers that one
00:12:01
craze in high school. Everyone in school
00:12:03
had it. One that your mom just didn't
00:12:05
get. Well, maybe you mowed lawns for
00:12:07
three months to get the money for that
00:12:09
new video game system. or you begged
00:12:11
your grandpa until he bought you those
00:12:12
new pair of jeans. It might not have
00:12:14
been about the game or the clothing, but
00:12:16
simply about the feeling of belonging
00:12:17
and getting to share in something with
00:12:19
the cool kids. So, what happens when
00:12:21
it's not a thing, but it's an identity?
00:12:24
Being queer has never been more accepted
00:12:26
than it is over the last few decades.
00:12:28
And that goes double for in schools,
00:12:30
especially in liberal areas. At high
00:12:32
schools and colleges, it's typical to
00:12:34
have an LGBTQ club that holds meetings,
00:12:36
protests, social hours, and events. When
00:12:38
Pride Month rolls around, they usually
00:12:40
go all out. And that might make some
00:12:43
kids feel like they wish they could
00:12:44
belong. And it might make some start
00:12:46
thinking about their identity a little
00:12:48
more closely and maybe discover that one
00:12:50
of those letters fits them after all.
00:12:51
And there is one other big factor that
00:12:53
might be changing everything. Social
00:12:55
media is a very mixed bag in terms of
00:12:58
information, but there is no question
00:12:59
it's made it possible for people to
00:13:01
communicate like never before. 30 years
00:13:04
ago, if you had a niche interest, you
00:13:05
were relegated to boring your friends
00:13:07
about it. Now it's easy to just search
00:13:09
on Reddit or Google it and find a group
00:13:11
of taxiderermists, fans of an obscure
00:13:14
sci-fi series or support groups for just
00:13:16
about any identity. And that's made it
00:13:18
easy for kids with questions about their
00:13:20
identity to find someone to answer their
00:13:22
questions and support them on their
00:13:24
first step of the journey. And that's
00:13:25
led many parents to wonder if they're
00:13:27
being cut out of the equation. In the
00:13:29
past, parents would often be the first
00:13:31
person a young person would come out to.
00:13:33
But today, it's common for kids to have
00:13:35
a whole support network of fellow queer
00:13:37
teens, often around the world, cheering
00:13:39
them on as they figure out their
00:13:40
identity. That combined with the growing
00:13:42
media representation for the community,
00:13:44
have led conservatives to say that kids
00:13:46
aren't being supported, they're being
00:13:48
groomed. They argue that the media and
00:13:50
culture has made identifying as queer so
00:13:52
attractive that kids are choosing to
00:13:54
join the club so they can make new
00:13:56
friends, get cool new accessories, and
00:13:58
join the latest trend. to which queer
00:14:00
people have said, "Have you actually
00:14:01
tried to be queer in public lately?"
00:14:03
While it's true that on the legal
00:14:05
fronts, it's definitely easier to be
00:14:06
queer than it used to be, there are some
00:14:08
troubling trends. The push back against
00:14:10
the movement has gotten more vocal.
00:14:12
Target saw organized right-wing boycots
00:14:15
in response to their 2024 pride
00:14:16
collection, with several influencers
00:14:18
filming themselves causing disruptions
00:14:20
in the store. The big box store chain
00:14:22
decided to dial back their pride output
00:14:24
in 2025, which made other people angry
00:14:26
and led to boycots from the left.
00:14:29
Additionally, school board meetings and
00:14:30
library meetings have become
00:14:31
battlegrounds, and more politicians have
00:14:34
begun vocally calling for rolling back
00:14:36
many of the advances the queer community
00:14:38
has gained. In June 2025, the infamously
00:14:41
conservative Southern Baptist Church
00:14:43
passed a resolution calling for the
00:14:44
repeal of gay marriage, which has made
00:14:47
many people think that there might be
00:14:48
some safety in numbers. As queer people
00:14:51
see their identities become political
00:14:52
ping-pong balls, it's made many think
00:14:54
that it's time to go back to the old
00:14:56
ways, organizing and protesting and
00:14:58
making sure that the community is seen
00:14:59
as a welcoming place for newcomers. Of
00:15:01
course, that's taken on a very different
00:15:03
element now that we live in a global
00:15:05
online community. activists can reach
00:15:07
out and spread information about how to
00:15:09
know if you're queer, how to stand up
00:15:11
for your rights, and how to find people
00:15:12
like you. And it might be that today's
00:15:15
young people have fewer connections than
00:15:17
they used to in other areas. One of the
00:15:19
most controversial theories about the
00:15:21
Gen Z LGBTQ boom essentially says that
00:15:24
identifying as queer has often replaced
00:15:27
other identities in the modern day. It's
00:15:29
been criticized heavily, but it is true
00:15:31
that today's young people spend a lot
00:15:33
less time in public and a lot more time
00:15:35
online. There are fewer places to hang
00:15:37
out, like at the mall or arcades.
00:15:39
Today's teens are less likely to be
00:15:41
involved in school activities and
00:15:43
sports. And church and community
00:15:44
activities have decreased. So, that
00:15:46
leaves them with a lot more time to hang
00:15:48
out online and then ponder some of those
00:15:51
feelings and questions that they've been
00:15:52
having. And the result is a new
00:15:54
community that is bigger and it's
00:15:56
growing all the time. If you ask the
00:15:58
average Gen Z why they think they
00:16:00
identify as queer, they're likely to
00:16:02
respond with, "Why does it matter?" One
00:16:04
of the biggest factors in this change
00:16:05
might be that it's not nearly as big of
00:16:07
an event as it used to be. In the past,
00:16:09
the decision to come out as gay or
00:16:11
transgender came with a lot of
00:16:13
unpredictability. Even if your parents
00:16:15
were accepting, the odds were good that
00:16:17
some friends or family members wouldn't
00:16:19
be. While there is no guarantee of a
00:16:20
soft landing today, a lot of teenagers
00:16:22
and young people have grown up in a
00:16:24
world where it is so normalized that
00:16:26
they can simply wake up, brush their
00:16:28
teeth, come out of the closet, and then
00:16:30
ask mom what's for breakfast that
00:16:31
morning. And there is one other big
00:16:34
factor. Time keeps marching on. Gen Z
00:16:36
isn't the first generation to come of
00:16:38
age during an LGBT friendly era.
00:16:40
Millennials mainly grew up as the
00:16:42
movement was becoming mainstream for the
00:16:44
first time. And by the time that they
00:16:45
were in college or early adulthood, gay
00:16:47
marriage seemed like an inevitable
00:16:48
advance. The generation is highly
00:16:50
liberal, educated, and likely to approve
00:16:52
of LGBTQ culture. And while they don't
00:16:55
identify as such in the same numbers as
00:16:57
Gen Z, they have a far higher percentage
00:16:59
than older generations, almost 15%. And
00:17:03
many of them have kids, too. In fact,
00:17:05
many millennials have Gen Z kids. If an
00:17:08
older millennial had a kid at 21, that
00:17:10
kid would actually be in college now.
00:17:12
And that means that there are some
00:17:14
millennials who are grandparents
00:17:15
already. And when you're done screaming
00:17:17
internally at the inevitable passage of
00:17:19
time, think about this. That means that
00:17:22
many of the Gen Z kids who grew up with
00:17:24
millennial parents already grew up in a
00:17:26
household where being queer was
00:17:27
normalized and accepted. They may have
00:17:30
been exposed to media normalizing queer
00:17:31
characters from an early age, and they
00:17:33
felt very little anxiety if they felt
00:17:36
like they wanted to come out. So, is
00:17:38
this pattern likely to continue? The
00:17:40
outlook may be cloudier than you think.
00:17:42
While Gen Alpha is digital natives like
00:17:44
the older generation, they've shown to
00:17:46
be susceptible to misinformation and
00:17:48
extremism as spread by social media
00:17:50
platforms like Tik Tok. There are fears
00:17:52
of a right-wing boom among this younger
00:17:54
generation, which means that their
00:17:56
parents may find themselves yelling, "Go
00:17:58
to your room." until you can respect and
00:18:00
validate your sister's identity. Whether
00:18:02
Gen Alpha carries the rainbow flag
00:18:04
forward or drops it is still to be
00:18:06
determined. If you think that Gen Z is
00:18:09
shaking things up, wait until you hear
00:18:10
what other cultures are getting up to.
00:18:12
Check out the weirdest sex customs
00:18:14
around the world to see what really goes
00:18:16
on between the sheets, or click on this
00:18:18
video instead.
