A record one in four high school students say they are gay, bisexual or questioning their sexual identities.
The number of students who identify as LGBT+ has doubled since 2019, according to CDC data released on Thursday.
The CDC found that 25 percent of high school students are identifying as LGBT or “questioning.”
The percentage of students who do not view themselves as straight has more than doubled — from 11 percent in 2015 to 24.5 percent in 2021, according to official CDC data.
The rates are much higher than the adult population — where 7% identify as LGBT or questioning.
Dr. Mollie Blackburn, who teaches sexuality studies at Ohio State University, told DailyMail.com the new numbers suggest “an increase in acceptance from both parents and society.”
“[Accepting people] creates a context where a child will be more willing to say that they are gay.”
However, Jay Richard, a senior research fellow at the Heritage Foundation, told DailyMail.com the increase in LGBT+ students is partly due to a plethora of gender studies in American schools in recent years.
He said straight kids are identifying as LGBT+ to win cool points among their peers.
“There are social incentives to declaring yourself a sexual minority,” he added. “There is nothing you have to do to be bisexual. You [could] just wanna make yourself cooler.”
Child experts urge parents to speak with their children and inform them that identifying as a sexual minority when they aren’t is not cool.
