CDC Data Show Sharp Drop in LGBT Identification Among Ninth-Grade Girls

The percentage of ninth-grade girls identifying as lesbian or bisexual has fallen sharply over a four-year period, according to newly reported data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In 2021, approximately 30% of girls in ninth grade identified as either lesbian or bisexual. By 2025, that figure had declined to 17%. The most pronounced change occurred among girls identifying as bisexual, with the share dropping from 26% to 13%.

Although the figures point to a significant shift, researchers have not determined precisely what caused it. Changes in cultural attitudes, survey participation, terminology, peer influence, and how teenagers understand identity could all affect the results. More research will be required before firm conclusions can be drawn.

The decline has nevertheless prompted considerable public debate.

Terry Schilling, president of the American Principles Project, connected the change to recent political developments, writing on X, “Amazing what happens when you cut the Department of Education and USAID.”

Glenn Stanton, director of Global Family Formation Studies at Focus on the Family, offered a broader cultural explanation during an interview with CBN News. Stanton argued that the earlier increase in LGBT identification was influenced partly by social trends, experimentation, and confusion among adolescents rather than representing a permanent transformation in sexual orientation.

He also questioned whether the various identities represented by the LGBT acronym constitute a unified movement. According to Stanton, lesbian, gay, and bisexual identities depend on recognition of the male-female binary, while some transgender and queer theories challenge that same framework.

Stanton compared the cultural trend to holding a beach ball underwater, arguing that continuous pressure was needed to sustain the earlier surge in identity labels.

His interpretation remains one perspective in a wider and often contentious discussion. The CDC figures alone do not establish why identification declined or whether the trend will continue.

Still, the scale and speed of the reported shift are likely to fuel renewed examination of how teenagers form identities, and how schools, social media, politics, families, and changing cultural expectations may influence the labels they adopt.

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