Ninth-Grade Girls Reporting Lesbian or Bisexual Identity Falls to 17% From 30% in 4 Years
Updated
Updated · Fox News · Oct 12
Ninth-Grade Girls Reporting Lesbian or Bisexual Identity Falls to 17% From 30% in 4 Years
1 articles · Updated · Fox News · Oct 12
Summary
CDC data cited by The Washington Post showed the share of ninth-grade girls identifying as lesbian or bisexual dropped to 17% in 2025 from 30% in 2021.
Bisexual identification alone among those girls fell by half, to 13% from 26%, after a post-pandemic surge in LGBTQ identification among high school girls.
Boys' gay or bisexual identification stayed largely unchanged over the past decade, while rates among older teenage girls remained relatively steady and still above pre-pandemic levels.
Jean Twenge said the decline began during Joe Biden's presidency, undercutting claims that a later political shift drove the change, while Walt Heyer said one report is too little to confirm a lasting trend.
Why did LGBTQ identification among younger teen girls plummet so drastically by 2025, and is adolescent identity far more fluid than previously thought?
While older teens remain steady, what hidden social forces are driving ninth-grade girls to suddenly abandon sexual minority labels in recent years?