A new report has shown that approximately one in four high school students in the United States identifies as LGBTQ+.
The data, which was collected from the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS) in 2021, provides an in-depth look into the changing dynamics of sexual identity among American adolescents.
According to the 2021 report, 75.5% of high school students identified as heterosexual, while the remaining 24.5% represented a diverse range of sexual orientations, including 12.2% that identified as bisexual, 5.2% as questioning, 3.9% as other, 3.2% as gay or lesbian, and 1.8% reported that they did not understand the question.
Notably, the report, which surveyed 17,508 students across 152 schools throughout the United States, highlighted a significant increase in the number of LGBTQ+ identifying students, rising from 11% in 2015.
The survey also collected data on sexual experiences among high school students. It showed that 57% of respondents reported no sexual contact in their lives, while 34.6% had sexual contact with someone of the opposite sex. A smaller percentage, 6%, had sexual contact with both sexes, and just 2.4% reported having sexual contact exclusively with the same sex.
