Approximately 4.5% of adults in the U.S. identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or queer (LGBTQ+). That means that there are more than 11.3 million LGBTQ+ adults in the U.S. (Conron, 2019).

Recent reports from the Williams Institute estimate that 1.4 million adults (.6% of adults) in the U.S. identify as transgender (Conron 2019; Flores et al 2016).

Roughly half of the LGBTQ+ population identify as bisexual. (Gates, Marriage and Family 2015).

While the prevalence of marriage in the general population continues to decline, the number of same-sex married couples has increased significantly in the last decade as LGBTQ+ people gained the freedom to marry nationwide. Based on data from 2017-2019, it is estimated that there are at least 543,000 married same-sex couples in the U.S. (Press Release 2019; Romero 2017; Gallup Poll 2017).

According to a 2019 Census Bureau estimate, there are over 469,000 same-sex couples who are unmarried and living together. (Press Release 2019).

The proportion of same-sex couples raising kids tends to be higher in more socially conservative areas of the country where LGBTQ+ people have come out later in life, and were more likely to have a child with a different-sex partner earlier in life. Overall, the highest proportions of same-sex couples raising children under age 18 reside in Southern, Mountain West, and Midwestern states – largely rural areas, with the fewest protections for LGBTQ+ families. (Movement Advancement Project 2019; Gates, Marriage and Family 2015; Gates 2013).

Among LGBTQ+ adults under 50 living alone or with a spouse or partner, 48% of women and 20% of men are raising a child who is under 18 years old. (Gates 2013). When looking specifically at those who live together, the US Census Bureau estimates that 16% of all same-sex couples are raising children under 18 in their household: 9.3 % of male couples and 23% of female couples (Characteristics, 2018).

Racial and ethnic minorities who are LGBTQ+ are more likely to be raising or having kids. More than a third of same-sex couples raising children are racial or ethnic minorities – approximately 12% are African American and 15% Latinx. Out of all LGBTQ+ people aged 25 or older, 34% of African American adults and 39% of Latinx adults are raising children, in comparison to 21% of white adults. (LGBT Demographic Data, 2019; Gates, Marriage and Family 2015; Gates, Demographics 2015).

LGBTQ+ individuals and same-sex couples raising children have lower incomes than different-sex counterparts and higher levels of poverty. Nearly one in five children being raised by same-sex couples (24%) live in poverty compared to 14% of children being raised by different-sex couples. In 2015, 33% of LGBTQ+ parents raising children experienced food insecurity, compared with 20% of their non-LGBTQ+ counterparts. (Taylor et. Al, 2016;Gates, Marriage and Family 2015; Gates, Demographics 2015).

Nearly all research shows that individuals in same-sex couples have higher levels of education; however, this is not true for those raising children. Only one third of same-sex couples raising children have a college degree. (Characteristics, 2018; Gates, Marriage and Family 2015).

There is no comprehensive federal nondiscrimination law expressly protecting LGBTQ+ people and less than half of states have state nondiscrimination protections for LGBTQ+ people.

Parenting and foster and adoption laws, practices, and procedures vary throughout the U.S., and many states do not have express protections for LGBTQ+ parents. Thus, depending on the law of a given state, LGBTQ+ parents may feel vulnerable to discrimination or retribution. This is especially true for transgender parents who have historically faced discrimination in the courts, custody disputes, foster care, and adoption, and a non-biological parent who does not have legally-established rights to her or his child.

In the last few years, there has been a notable increase in hate crimes and hostility toward LGBTQ+ people.