The current hostile environment stirred up by right-wing politicians and campaigns of misinformation is inspiring LGBTQ+ people “to publicly embrace who they are as a way to push back,” finds a new Human Rights Campaign survey, according to LGBTQ Nation.
States HRC President Kelley Robinson in the survey’s release, “LGBTQ+ Americans are everywhere. There are 25 million of us across the country, and we now have critical mass in almost every state in the nation.”
Reports LGBTQ Nation:
The GOP’s relentless attacks on LGBTQ+ rights and dignity over the past two years have not driven the record number of LGBTQ+ adults back into the closet, according to a new reportfrom the Human Rights Campaign Foundation.
In fact, the hostile climate seems to be having the opposite effect, inspiring people to publicly embrace who they are as a way to push back.
The HRC Foundation 2026 Annual LGBTQ+ Community Survey found that 85% of LGBTQ+ adults are somewhat or very open about their identities, despite 56% saying the political climate makes them less likely to be open. 33% of respondents reported they are more open than they were two years ago, and 45% said they are just as open. Only 22% reported being less open than they were two years ago.
The most recent survey found that older LGBTQ+ adults were more likely to have remained just as open as they were two years ago, while younger adults were more likely to report becoming more open over the past two years.
One 34-year-old lesbian from West Virginia wrote that it is “more important than ever for me to be out in every space of my life as an act of resistance. Building community is life-affirming.”
The most popular reasons respondents reported wanting to be open about their LGBTQ+ identities were a desire to build support for LGBTQ+ people and a belief that visibility benefits the overall community.