Summarised by Centrist
A new study shows fewer young Americans now identify as trans or queer. After years of steady growth, the share of students calling themselves transgender has almost halved since 2023.
It fell from about seven percent to under four. The number describing themselves as bisexual, pansexual or queer (BTQ+) has also dropped.
The research comes from Professor Eric Kaufmann at the University of Buckingham in England. He studied large surveys of American high school and university students. Each one shows the same curve. Trans and queer identities rose fast through the 2010s, peaked around 2023, and then began to fall.
At elite universities and high schools, the change is sharpest. Brown University in Rhode Island shows non-binary students falling from five percent to two and a half. At Phillips Academy Andover in Massachusetts, the drop is from nine percent to three. Younger students starting college are less likely to identify as trans or queer than older students. That means the trend is still moving down.
Kaufmann found no link to politics, religion or social media. It is not the result of a rightward shift or a return to faith. He notes that mental health among young people has improved since the pandemic. Fewer students say they feel anxious or hopeless most of the time. That recovery may help explain part of the drop in BTQ+ identity.
Even after mental health is factored in, the decline remains. Kaufmann calls it a cultural correction, a sign that the peak of identity politics may have passed. If it continues, he says, it marks the start of what he calls a “post-progressive” era in American life.
