CDC data show fewer ninth-grade girls identify as lesbian or bisexual
The CDC’s survey runs every two years; analyst Jean Twenge says the sharp turn among younger teens could be a blip or the start of a generational shift.
Fewer young teenagers identify as lesbian, gay or bisexual than did a few years ago, according to a new analysis of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data reported by the Washington Post1.
“That really does look like a free fall.”
What the survey measures
The numbers come from the CDC's Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System, which the agency says is used by health departments, educators, lawmakers, doctors and community organizations2. The survey asks high school students about their sexual identity, which the CDC's 2025 user's guide lists alongside sex, race and ethnicity, and grade3. The same guide says the survey also covers bullying, mental health including suicide, substance use, and parental monitoring.
The trend depends on a student's age, according to Jean Twenge, the San Diego State University psychologist who analyzed the data4. The ninth graders surveyed in spring 2025, she notes, were born in 2009 or 20105.
Twenge has also watched a trend vanish. A decline she first found among 18- to 24-year-olds, using early 2025 data, disappeared once the full year of data was available4. Fewer than half the schools the CDC sampled took part in the 2025 national survey: 108 of 230, its guide reports. That is a 47.0% school response rate. The overall response rate was 30.6%3.
Where the drop is sharpest
The decline is particularly striking among ninth-grade girls, according to Twenge, the Washington Post's Casey Parks reports1. Twenge published her analysis of the 2025 data on her Substack, "Generation Tech." There she writes that the drop was uneven between the sexes. Among girls, LGB identification fell from 27% in 2023 to 22% in 2025. Among boys, it fell from 9% to 7%4. Measured by age rather than grade, she describes little change among those 17 and older. The declines are notable among those 16 and younger, especially those 15 and under.
Three passages from her analysis carry the findings.
- On ninth graders: "That really does look like a free fall."
- On ninth-grade girls, where bisexual identification accounts for much of the change: "While 26% of 9th grade girls identified as bisexual in 2021, only 13% -- half as many -- did in 2025."
- On sexually active teens, where for girls "having non-heterosexual sex peaked in 2021 and then fell steeply."
The key comparison
The figure at the center of the Washington Post report is the share of ninth-grade girls who identify as lesbian or bisexual: 30 percent in 2021, 17 percent last year1. It comes from the CDC's Youth Risk Behavior Survey, whose national sample is built to represent 9th through 12th graders in public and private schools3. The 2025 round produced 10,710 student questionnaires that were usable after data editing, the CDC's guide reports. The comparison spans three survey rounds, from 2021 through 20252.
What comes next
The CDC's guide says the Youth Risk Behavior Survey is conducted every two years, so another national reading will follow the 2025 survey3. Twenge, the San Diego State University psychology professor whose analysis the Post reported1, says what that reading will show is an open question.
Nor can she explain why 14- and 15-year-old girls show the steepest declines: "I have to confess: I have no idea. I’d love to hear yours."
Sources
- Number of teens who identify themselves as gay or bisexual is in ‘free fall’ | The Washington Post
- Data and Documentation | Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS) | CDC
- 2025 YRBS Data User’s Guide
- Younger teens are now much less likely to say they are lesbian, gay, or bisexual | Generation Tech
- 9th grade girls ditch LGBTQ identities: CDC survey | The Post Millennial
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