Photo: Zachary Nelson (Unsplash)
GLAAD's 2016 Accelerating Accepting Report says that 20% of Americans aged 18-34 identify as a part of the LGBTQ community!
Sarah Kate Ellis, GLAAD's President and CEO, told BuzzFeed News, "America is the most accepting that it has ever been. Having 20% of millennials identify as LGBTQ is pretty groundbreaking. What I want to see is that they continue to flourish and blossom as their true and authentic selves."
This is a huge increase from past generations, as 12% of Generation X (35-51) and 7% of Baby Boomers (52-71) identify as a part of the community. GLAAD also reported that Millenials are embracing a wider range of terms, like bisexual, pansexual, and queer and 12% of millennials identify as transgender or gender non-comforming.
The report also examines how comfortable the general public is with the LGBTQ community and the results came in at a record high. Ellis thinks LGBTQ visibility and representation in media is helping people with acceptance of the community. She explained to BuzzFeed News "When someone knows a person who is LGBTQ – whether it’s in real life or onscreen, they are more likely to be accepting of them. It’s important for people to see themselves reflected in the media."
Even with the progress, there is still work to be done. The report highlights that "GLAAD’s findings point to a culture of complacency, wherein the non-LGBT public is under the false and potentially dangerous impression that the work for LGBT equality is done." Working as an LGBTQ individual is still not protected under current federal civil rights law, transgender people are fighting to use the restrooms, and LGBTQ people won't be counted in the next census, just to name a few.
Let's get to it! Check out the full report here.
