According to research carried out by Gallup, 5.6% of US adults identify as LGBT. In 2017, the number stood at 4.5%, and in 2012, when Gallup began tracking the measure, it was 3.5%.
In particular, just 0.6% of all US adults identify themselves as transgender, the study showed. While there was no specific data on the issue in the previous report, a similar percentage was discovered by the Williams Institute of Los Angeles a year earlier. "This figure is double the estimate that utilized data from roughly a decade ago," the study said in 2016.
At the same time, research from strategy consulting firm Global Market Insights estimates that the sex reassignment surgery market in the US will grow by a quarter in five years, hitting $1.5bn by 2026.
Stefano Eleuteri, sexologist and PhD in social, developmental psychology and educational research at Sapienza University of Rome, says it's not the case that there are actually more people who feel they are in the wrong body, but rather social acceptance has allowed those who would have been quiet in the past to speak out.
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