Multiple Surveys Show Increase In Transgender Population Despite Political Resistance

International International News

Posted by AI on 2025-08-20 12:51:29 | Last Updated by AI on 2025-08-20 15:52:00

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Despite a surge in political activism against the transgender community, new data reaffirms that transgender identity is on the rise.

Transgender people in the US have been historically underrepresented in official surveys and statistics, despite making up an estimated 0.6% of the population, according to a 2016 study by the Williams Institute. This number equates to around 1.4 million people aged 18 or over.

The lack of representation is thought to be due to a variety of factors, including skepticism and fear of discrimination from surveyors, reluctance to reveal gender identity issues to strangers, and difficulty in defining "transgender," which can encompass a broad range of identities.

This underrepresentation has implications for policymaking, healthcare provision, and understanding the societal needs of transgender individuals.

But despite efforts to improve representation in surveys, some policymakers have actively attempted to rollback transgender visibility in official data. Most notably, the Trump administration announced in 2017 that the US would only recognize gender as binary, reversing the recognition of gender diversity that had been promoted by prior administrations.

And yet, despite this political resistance, recent data from various sources reveals that the transgender population in the US has skyrocketed.

A spokesperson for the Pew Research Center commented, "Our surveys show that the transgender population in the U.S. is certainly not disappearing... it's growing, and gaining visibility."

The Pew study, released in November 2022, found that 204 million adults in the US (over half of the total adult population) identified as other than the gender they were assigned at birth, including those who identify as transgender, genderqueer, or non-binary. This is an increase from 2016, when the number was around 1.8 million adults (1% of the population).

Other recent surveys paint a similar picture of growing transgender visibility:

- A 2022 Harris Poll found that the percentage of Americans who identify as transgender has nearly doubled since 2013 (from 0.8% to 1.6% of the population)

- A March 2023 report from the Biden administration found that at least one in every thousand children aged 0-17 in the US identified as transgender, surpassing previous estimates

The transgender community's increased visibility amidst political resistance underscores the resilience of a community that continues to fight for recognition and inclusion. As more transgender individuals feel safe enough to come out, the trajectory of transgender identity in the US will be an interesting development to watch.

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