Sudden Slide In Teen LGB Identity

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New 2025 youth survey figures show younger teens identifying as lesbian, gay, or bisexual dropped sharply, led by a steep fall among ninth-grade girls.

Story Highlights

Ninth-graders identifying as lesbian, gay, or bisexual fell from 17% in 2023 to 11% in 2025.
Ninth-grade girls who said they are lesbian or bisexual fell from 30% in 2021 to 17% in 2025.
Overall girls dropped from 27% in 2023 to 22% in 2025; boys from 9% to 7%.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention survey runs every two years in high schools nationwide.

New CDC-Linked Data Shows Sharp Drop Among Younger Teens

Reports based on the 2025 Youth Risk Behavior Survey say fewer teens now identify as lesbian, gay, or bisexual compared with recent years. Among ninth-graders, the share fell from 17% in 2023 to 11% in 2025, a notable shift for the youngest high school cohort. The national school-based survey runs every two years and samples grades nine through twelve in public and private schools across the country to measure teen health and behavior trends.

The steepest change appears among ninth-grade girls. Analyses of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data indicate girls who identified as lesbian or bisexual fell from 30% in 2021 to 17% in 2025, with most of that decline coming from fewer girls choosing the bisexual label. Coverage notes older grades also fell, though less. That pattern points to a broad, uneven decline rather than a one-grade fluke, according to the published summaries.

Girls and Boys Show Declines, With Smaller Shifts in Upper Grades

Across all girls, reported lesbian, gay, or bisexual identification dropped from 27% in 2023 to 22% in 2025. For boys, the share fell from 9% to 7% over the same period. Outlets summarizing the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data also describe smaller declines among eleventh and twelfth graders compared to ninth graders, reinforcing that the change is broad but not uniform by age group. These differences suggest grade and sex matter when looking at teen identity trends.

Among ninth-grade girls specifically, bisexual identification appears to account for much of the movement. Reports cite a drop from 26% in 2021 to 13% in 2025 for girls selecting bisexual, which mirrors the larger fall in the combined lesbian or bisexual total. That detail helps explain why the youngest girls drive the overall shift. It also aligns with earlier years that showed bigger run-ups among girls than boys before this recent turn, according to the same coverage.

How the Survey Works and What It Can and Cannot Say

The Youth Risk Behavior Survey is a long-running national study of students in grades nine through twelve. It uses a school-based, self-administered questionnaire in the spring semester every two years. The design aims to produce nationally representative results on health and behavior, including sexual identity, while protecting student privacy in the classroom setting. These basics matter because they explain why the survey is widely referenced in public health and education reporting.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated sexual identity response options in 2021 to add “questioning,” “some other way,” and “I do not know what this question is asking,” which can affect how students answer over time. Analysts often group lesbian, gay, bisexual, and certain “other” responses together for reporting comparisons, which allows more stable estimates across subgroups but can blur fine distinctions between categories. The reports describe a clear decline; they do not claim to show why it happened.

Mental Health Context and Policy Backdrop

Public-health reporting around the 2025 release also highlighted mental health risks. Teenagers who identified as lesbian, gay, or bisexual were three times more likely to have seriously considered suicide, and twice as likely to report persistent sadness, according to coverage of the same period’s findings. That context underscores why schools and parents track these measures closely and why changes in identity reporting can intersect with counseling, safety, and parental involvement debates.

For parents, teachers, and policy leaders, the numbers show a turn away from recent peaks in teen lesbian, gay, or bisexual identification, most of all among the youngest high schoolers. President Trump’s administration has pressed schools to focus on core academics and restore parental rights. These findings arrive as local boards review policies on counseling, privacy, and parental notification. Clear, steady standards at school and at home can help teens thrive while respecting family values and local control.