CDC Data Signals Sharp Reversal: LGB Identification Plummets Among Youngest Teens, Especially Girls
CDC 2025 YRBS data, analyzed by Jean Twenge and corroborated across outlets, shows LGB identification among U.S. high schoolers declining sharply, led by ninth-grade girls, signaling possible cultural shifts with policy implications for identity-related norms and rights.
New analysis of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's 2025 Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) reveals a notable decline in high school students identifying as lesbian, gay, or bisexual (LGB), with the steepest drops among ninth-graders and driven primarily by girls. Psychologist Jean Twenge, analyzing the nationally representative data on her Generation Tech Substack, found ninth-graders reporting LGB identification fell from 17% in 2023 to 11% in 2025, while 12th-graders saw a milder dip from 18% to 16%. Overall, girls identifying as LGB dropped from 27% to 22%, compared to a smaller decline for boys from 9% to 7%. The trend is most pronounced among ninth-grade girls, where lesbian or bisexual identification halved from 30% in 2021 to 17% in 2025, with bisexual identification specifically falling from 26% to 13%. These shifts follow rapid rises in prior years—128% for girls from 2015-2021 and 99% for boys from 2015-2023—and align with stabilization or early declines in young adult data from sources like the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System. Twenge notes the patterns resemble a "free fall" for the youngest cohort (Generation Alpha), though causes remain unclear and predate recent political shifts. The Washington Post reports similar findings, highlighting conservative celebrations tying the data to Trump administration policies on education and sports, while Twenge emphasizes the decline began under the prior administration and calls for further study of pandemic, social media, and cultural factors. Parallel trends appear in related research: Eric Kaufmann's analyses document declining trans and queer identification among young people since 2023, with non-heterosexual shares dropping in college surveys. A University of Minnesota student survey noted rising heterosexual identification in some grades. This reversal in self-identification among teens—particularly the youngest—may reflect waning social influences or normalization fatigue, potentially reshaping debates over school curricula, youth mental health resources, and LGBTQ+ policy frameworks as institutions reassess rapid-onset identity trends.
Twenge: The grade- and sex-specific pattern in the newest YRBS wave points to a possible cohort-level correction in identity expression among the youngest teens, which—if sustained—could ease pressure on schools and policymakers to expand identity-affirming programs while prompting reevaluation of social influences on adolescent self-concept.
Sources (5)
- [1]Number of teens who identify themselves as gay or bisexual is in ‘free fall’(https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2026/10/08/number-teens-who-identify-themselves-gay-or-bisexual-free-fall/)
- [2]Younger teens are now much less likely to say they are lesbian, gay, or bisexual(https://www.generationtechblog.com/p/identifying-as-lgb-is-in-free-fall)
- [3]Fewer teens identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual: report(https://www.christianpost.com/news/fewer-teens-identify-as-gay-lesbian-bisexual-report.html)
- [4]Number of young teenagers identifying as LGB falls by over a third(https://unherd.com/newsroom/number-of-young-teenagers-identifying-as-lgb-falls-by-over-a-third/)
- [5]CDC Survey Finds Fewer High Schoolers Identify as LGB(https://us247.viralstory.biz/article/cdc-survey-finds-fewer-high-school-students-identifying-as-lgb-cdndhz)