Federal survey data show ninth-grade girls’ lesbian or bisexual self-identification dropped sharply in four years, raising big questions about school-driven labels and teen pressure.
Story Snapshot
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention survey points to a drop from 30% in 2021 to 17% in 2025 among ninth-grade girls identifying as lesbian or bisexual.
- The fall is driven mainly by fewer girls choosing the “bisexual” label, which reportedly fell by about half.
- The survey measures identity labels, not fixed orientation, and compares different student groups over time.
- Method details and response rates limit firm causal claims, but the change is large enough to matter.
What The New Numbers Show
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Youth Risk Behavior Survey data reviewed by psychologist Jean Twenge show a steep decline in ninth-grade girls identifying as lesbian or bisexual. The combined share moved from 30% in 2021 to 17% in 2025, with most of the change coming from fewer girls calling themselves bisexual. The shift involves identity labels, not attraction or behavior. The instrument offers several identity choices and is used to track youth health risks and trends nationwide.
Survey documentation explains that identity, attraction, and behavior are separate concepts, and the questionnaire captures identity as one measure of sexual-minority status. That matters because a label can change even if attraction has not. The 2025 survey also includes options such as “some other identity,” “questioning,” or not understanding the question, which can affect how totals are calculated across years with different answer sets.
How The Survey Works And Why It Matters
The Youth Risk Behavior Survey is a repeated, school-based sample. Different students answer the survey in different years, so year-to-year changes reflect group averages rather than tracking the same teen over time. The 2025 cycle reported modest overall response rates, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention uses weighting to reduce bias, though it cannot erase all nonresponse concerns. These design facts limit firm causal claims, but they do not erase the basic trend.
Commentary around the findings uses strong language like “free fall,” but even those reports note that the cause is unclear. The number shift is real within the survey series, yet it does not prove why teens chose or left certain labels. The decline could reflect changing social pressure, different school climates, new messaging, or simple teen experimentation with labels. Without individual follow-up, assigning a single cause would go beyond the data’s reach.
Possible Explanations, Without Overreach
Long-term research on youth identity shows that change in labels happens and can follow more than one path. Some adolescents keep the same identity over time, while others move between bisexual and gay or lesbian labels, or continue to integrate identity as they mature. That pattern supports caution: a drop in one label does not prove those teens were never same-sex attracted. It does show that identity reporting in early high school is not set in stone.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention materials further stress that identity labels are only one slice of sexual orientation, alongside attraction and behavior. When schools, social media, or peers put heavy focus on identity terms, teens may try on labels and later let them go. When families, communities, and schools emphasize character, responsibility, and truth over trend, labels may settle more slowly and more honestly. The data signal a reset that calls for adult patience and clarity, not panic.
What Parents And Policymakers Should Watch
Parents should ask local schools how they discuss sexual identity with young teens. Schools should present facts, not ideology. They should also protect parental rights and keep sensitive discussions age-appropriate. Transparency builds trust and reduces pressure to adopt trendy labels. Policymakers can push for open curricula and opt-in choices when topics involve identity. Respect for the family, not bureaucratic fads, must guide policy.
The share of teenage girls who identify as lesbian or bisexual has dropped sharply in just four years in the US, per CDC data highlighted by The Washington Post.
Among ninth-grade girls:
Lesbian or bisexual: 30% in 2021 → 17% in 2025.
Bisexual alone: 26% in 2021 → 13% 2025.
— Straturka (@straturka) October 27, 2026
Researchers should test the trend with consistent coding across all identity options and publish uncertainty ranges. A respondent-level reanalysis, done the same way for each year, would help clarify how much of the decline stands beyond measurement rules. A secure, long-term study that follows the same students could also show who keeps, changes, or drops labels. Until then, the prudent read is simple: fewer ninth-grade girls are choosing lesbian or bisexual labels, and adults should lead with truth, restraint, and respect.
Sources:
pjmedia.com, cdc.gov, yahoo.com, queerty.com, christianpost.com, pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
