Youth LGB identification
Declining Youth LGB Identification in Survey Data
Families and clinicians may encounter news that fewer young teens now identify as lesbian, gay, or bisexual. A recent analysis by psychologist Jean Twenge of the CDC’s Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBS) found that 30 percent of ninth-grade girls identified as lesbian or bisexual in 2021, compared with 17 percent in 2025. Most of the drop came from girls identifying as bisexual (26 percent to 13 percent). These results may be relevant to youth who are exploring their gender identity, the majority of whom are natal females (in recent years), and sexual orientation does not necessarily align with gender identity. Rates among boys were roughly stable over the past decade, and older teens’ identification held relatively steady, though it remains above pre-pandemic levels (Parks, 2026). Twenge described the pattern as a “free fall” but said the cause is unclear.
Several cautions apply. The analysis was published on Twenge’s Substack rather than in a peer-reviewed journal. The YRBS surveys different students each cycle, so it cannot show individual teens changing their identity. Jody Herman of the Williams Institute noted that the analysis did not report confidence intervals, so it is unclear whether the differences are statistically meaningful (Parks, 2026).
The social-influence framing: Some conservative Christians read the data as support for the view that adolescent identity is still forming and is shaped by peers, online spaces, and community discourse. From this perspective, the 2021 increase partly reflected social influence, and the decline reflects a changed social environment. Many holding this view also distinguish among attraction, orientation, and identity label (see Yarhouse, 2015).
The stigma framing: Some liberal and affirming Christians read the data as evidence that teens may feel less safe disclosing, particularly given current public discourse. From this perspective, orientation is a stable given, the 2021 numbers reflected greater willingness to disclose, and the decline reflects concealment rather than change.
Other explanations are also possible. The 2021 survey took place during the pandemic and may represent a spike that is now returning toward baseline. Today’s ninth-graders are also a different cohort with different middle-school experiences. Girls and younger adolescents may simply be more responsive to their social environment in either direction, which fits the pattern but doesn’t indicate why. Twenge plans to test hypotheses involving the pandemic, politics, and social media (Parks, 2026).
Clinical implications for families:
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Avoid inferring an individual teen’s orientation, or how stable it is, from population-level trends
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Assess attraction, behavior, identity label, and certainty separately, and revisit them over time
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Ask open questions about peer, online, family, and church influences without presuming a direction
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Consider whether a teen is concealing or genuinely reconsidering, and screen for safety and minority stress, since LGB youth face elevated suicide risk
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Help parents tolerate uncertainty and avoid reading headlines as verdicts on their own child, whether as proof the teen “wasn’t really” LGB or as proof the teen is hiding
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Maintain an exploratory, non-directive stance consistent with professional ethics codes, offering a space where a teen can explore without pressure in either direction
[†] This section describes how these data may be interpreted and what families may need, regardless of a reader’s own view of sexual orientation. It is not an argument for or against any interpretation.
Parks, C. (2026, October 8). Number of teens who identify themselves as gay or bisexual is in “free fall.” The Washington Post.
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