Nearly 1.2 Million People in the United States Are Nonbinary Adults

As our rapidly developing understanding and acceptance of non-heteronormative sexual and gender identities increases, so does our ability to accurately see the world that we live in. More and more, nonbinary adults are being recognized and represented in the United States; although, of course, as with all identities under the LGBTQ+ umbrella, this recognition and representation is far from perfect.

According to a study by the Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law, approximately 11% of LGBTQ individuals in the United States are nonbinary adults. That’s nearly a whopping 1.2 million people — just in case anyone tries to minimize the volume of our community.

The study’s lead author, Bianca D.M. Wilson, Senior Scholar of Public Policy at the Williams Institute, says, “Nonbinary people make up a substantial part of the LGBTQ community, and they appear to experience similar kinds of vulnerabilities seen in the larger LGBTQ population. More research is needed to understand whether there are unique needs among cisgender and transgender nonbinary people compared to each other and to their binary-identified LGBTQ counterparts.”

Using data from both Generations (“the first long-term, five-year study to examine the health and well-being across three generations of lesbians, gay men, and bisexuals”) and TransPop (“the first national probability sample of transgender individuals in the U.S.”), the Williams Institute study examined LGBTQ adults (ages 18-60) identifying as nonbinary. While they discovered that almost one-third of trans adults identify as nonbinary, approximately 58% of all nonbinary LGBTQ adults are cisgender.

Additionally, here’s how these nonbinary adults report their sexual orientation: queer (31%), bisexual (17%), pansexual (17%), asexual (14%).

Ilan H. Meyer, Distinguished Senior Scholar of Public Policy at the Williams Institute and study author said: “Identities and terms related to gender and sexuality shift across time. Our study found nonbinary adults tend to be younger, but as the use and acceptance of gender nonbinary terms continue to grow, we may see changes in numbers and characteristics of LGBTQ nonbinary people.”

You can read more about nonbinary adults in the United States here.

Photo at top courtesy of the Gender Spectrum Collective / photo by Zackary Drucker