Forty percent of Brown University students say they are not straight, as the LGBTQ+ population has tripled in 13 years — and is now five times the national average
- The poll found that 38 percent of college students said they were not straight, compared to just 13 percent 13 years ago
- Only 22.9 percent of students identified themselves as homosexual, down from 46 percent in 2010
- The proportion of students with other sexual orientations increased by 793 percent in the same period
Nearly forty percent of Brown University’s undergraduate students are not heterosexual, according to a survey that found the proportion of those who identify as LGBTQ+ has tripled since 2010.
The poll found that 38 percent of college students said they were not straight, compared to just 13 percent 13 years ago. This new value is more than five times the national rate.
The poll, conducted by student newspaper Brown Daily Herald, also found that of those who identified as LGBTQ+, just 22.9 percent of students identified as gay – down from 46 percent in 2010.
The proportion of students with other sexual orientations increased by 793 percent in the same period.
Brown is notoriously awake — even among the ultra-progressive Ivy League schools — and experts say the rising number of LGBTQ+ students is due to peer pressure and fashion.
A report by Brown University’s student newspaper shows that the number of students on campus who identify as LGBTQ has nearly tripled since 2010
The ultra-progressive Ivy League campus has a student body that identifies as LGBTQ more than five times the national average
Others believe that greater societal acceptance and sex education have led to the rise.
Last year, the survey expanded to include new options for describing sexual orientation, including queer, pansexual, asexual, and questioning/unsure.
Most students who identified as LGBTQ+ reported being bisexual in the survey — 53.71 percent, up from 41.01 percent in 2010.
The number of gay and lesbian people has increased by 26 percent and the proportion of students who identify as bisexual has increased by 232 percent, the survey found.
Former Brown professor Dr. Lisa Littman popularized the idea of ”Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria,” which theorizes that some people identify as transgender because of peer pressure.
Eventually, due to the controversy this theory caused, she was forced out of college.
Eric Kaufmann, one of the researchers working for the Center for the Study of Partisanship and Ideology, told College Fix that despite the massive rise in LGBTQ identification, these groups’ sexual activity hasn’t necessarily kept pace.
He found that, for example, bisexual identification — which increased 232 percent at Brown University — far outstrips bisexual sexual activity.
More than 50 percent of Brown University’s LGBTQ respondents said they were bisexual
Although bisexual identification is skyrocketing, bisexual activity is not, leading some researchers to suggest that there may be a social aspect to the identity
“If it was about people feeling empowered to come out, then we should have seen these two trends evolve together,” he said.
“Instead, we find that identity is increasing much faster than behavior, suggesting that people with occasional rather than sustained feelings of attraction to the opposite sex are increasingly identifying as LGBT.”
Kaufmann added, “There are two theories: that greater tolerance leads to more coming out of the closet, or Bill Maher’s claim that LGBT is trending among some youth.” I think the second theory fits the data better and more explains why the surge took place.
“For those in elite settings like top universities, there is also a political motivation associated with resistance to oppressors or dominant power structures.”