Ninth‑graders abandoning queer labels at dramatic rate
Question asked:
“Ninth-graders are abandoning queer labels at a dramatic rate, stumping researchers.”
Summary
Recent analyses of federal school‑based health surveys show that the proportion of ninth‑grade students—especially girls—identifying as lesbian, bisexual, or queer fell sharply between 2021 and 2025, dropping from around 30% to roughly 17% for girls and from about 9% to 7% for boys. This rapid decline has surprised researchers and is being reported as a dramatic shift in teen queer identification.
Sources 57 searched
- Number of teens who identify themselves as gay or bisexual is in ‘free fall’ - The Washington Post
The decline is particularly striking among ninth-grade girls, according to Jean Twenge, a professor of psychology at San Diego State University who published her analysis of the 2025 data on her Substack “Generation Tech.” In 2021, 30 percent ...
- Teen girls identifying as lesbian or bisexual plummet in stunning reversal, new data shows
The share of ninth-grade girls identifying as lesbian or bisexual dropped from 30% in 2021 to just 17% in 2025, while those identifying as bisexual alone fell by half, from 26% to 13%, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ...
- Retreat from identity labels: Does the sharply declining number of young teens identifying as gay and bisexual reflect an ideological shift? - Genetic Literacy Project
As the Washington Post’s Casey ... the steepest decline among ninth-grade girls: 30 percent identified as lesbian or bisexual in 2021, compared with 17 percent in 2025....
- Ninth-graders abandoning queer labels at dramatic rate, stumping researchers | CommsTrader
In the spring of 2025, a striking pattern emerged from federal school-based health surveys: the share of ninth-grade girls who described themselves as lesbian or bisexual had fallen dramatically in just four years.
- Is LGBTQ+ Identification Really in “Free Fall” Among Teenagers? The Data, Explained | Them
Among ninth-grade boys, the declines appeared to be less significant, Twenge noted, as in 2021, 9% of boys identified as bisexual or gay and in 2025, 7% did. Early interpretations of the apparent drop by conservatives claimed that there has ...
- LGBTQ+ Youth Identification Is Falling Among Younger Teens. But Why? | Instinct Magazine
Much of that shift appears connected to bisexual identification. Among ninth-grade girls, bisexual identification dropped from 26% in 2021 to 13% in 2025.
- A Funny Thing Happened After USAID Was Shut Down. Kids Stopped Being Gay. – RedState
The researchers try to dismiss the cultural argument by acting confused about why so many ninth grade girls have stopped self-identifying as gay or bi, while pointing to rates among 17-year-olds and 18-year-olds not dropping as steeply as a ...
- Teens Are Abandoning the LGBT Cult-Here’s Why – [your]NEWS
The largest drop in LGB identification was among ninth graders, or teens ages 14-15, sinking from 17 percent to 11 percent over the three-year period.
- Is there really a "free fall" in the number of teens identifying as LGBTQ+? - Queerty
New from @jean_twenge: ... largest change comes from ninth-grade girls: While 30% identified as lesbian or bisexual in 2021, only 17% self-identified as queer in 2025....
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