Is the water making us “more gay”

The increase in LGBT identification in recent years largely reflects the higher prevalence of such identities among the youngest U.S. adults compared with the older generations they are replacing in the U.S. adult population.

Roughly 21% of Generation Z Americans who have reached adulthood -- those born between 1997 and 2003 -- identify as LGBT. That is nearly double the proportion of millennials who do so, while the gap widens even further when compared with older generations.

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jademonkey19 · 41-45, T

It's not the water, it's tiktok, and facebook, and reddit, and the internet in general. A century ago, gay people were marrying straight people because they thought they were "supposed to" and it created unhappy marriages, dysfunctional families, and misery for all involved.

The number of 40-somethings coming out during the pandemic is not a mystery; it's the result of people being able to work-from-home, of being less afraid of what will happen if they don't fit in.

I'm 41 years old, and I was what people call non-binary now from the time I was five or six, there just wasn't a word for it. I loved playing sports, got in fights on the playground; but I also loved painting and drawing with my older sister, playing dress-up with her.

A lot of us grew up afraid of being ourselves, so we did our best to fit in; that seems less important and less necessary now.

PicturesOfABetterTomorrow · 41-45, M

The numbers are actually starting to level off.

Interracial relationships suddenly went up when it was no longer illegal or as much of a social taboo.

Nothing magical or conspiratorial. Gen Z in particular don't have to worry about being gay bashed at school for coming out.

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