In the year since we published our 2025 Bi State of the Union, there’s been a remarkable amount of research published about bi people, giving us the most comprehensive look yet at what bisexuality in today’s society looks like from 30,000 feet. While much of the data is encouraging, other findings show how far the bi community is from reaching its full potential.
Gallup just released their annual LGBT survey in February 2026, which found that for the first time since they began regularly tracking it (2012), the percentage of Americans who identify as LGBT fell, from 9.3% of US adults to 9%. The only subgroup to see an increase was bisexual people, who rose from 5.2% in 2025 to 5.3% in 2026. Bi folks also grew as a share of the LGBT community, going from 56.3% in 2025 to 58.6% in 2026. The bis will not be denied! Leading the way was the 18-29 age group at 16.1%, followed by the 30-49 age group at 5.6%. Last year Gallup found that the percentage of people who identify as pansexual, a label that falls under the bi umbrella, was just 0.1%. Pansexuality didn’t register at all in this year’s Gallup poll.
The independent research organization Clearer Thinking also published a groundbreaking study on bisexuality in 2025 that asked people a wide variety of questions to find out not just how they identified, but also what their actual sexual and romantic attractions were. This approach is sadly rare in sex research, but it’s crucial when it comes to studying bisexuality, as the majority of people who fit the textbook definition of bisexuality (being attracted to both sexes) choose not to identify as bi. What the study found was that when asked if they were “sometimes same-sex attracted” (in other words, bisexual), an eye-popping 59% of Gen Z answered yes, along with an equally extraordinary 52% of Millennials, 39% of Gen X, and 26% of Baby Boomers!
As for our closest primate cousins, research published in Nature Ecology & Evolution reviewed nearly 100 studies to find that 59 different primate species exhibited bisexual behavior — up from the 2023 estimate of 51. The researchers also noted that bisexuality was more common in species who live longer and have more complex social structures.
Some of the bi data from this past year shows the ways in which the global backlash against LGBT rights is affecting bi people, specifically bi visibility. The 2025 Ipsos LGBT+ Pride Report found that among the 23 (mostly wealthy) countries they surveyed, the percentage who said they had a bi relative, friend, or colleague averaged out to just 25% — a two-point drop from the previous year. In the US and Mexico, this drop was four points. South America seems to have had a sharp decline in bi visibility, with Colombia (-12), Peru (-7), Brazil (-6), and Chile (-5) showing the biggest decreases. The largest increase was in Canada (+4).
Pew Research also published The Experience of LGBTQ Americans Today, a deep-dive survey into what life is like for LGBT people. Their results provide some fascinating insights into bisexuality and reflect some of the long-standing challenges bi people have faced, both across society and within LGBT circles. Over half of LGBT respondents said that there is “a great deal” or “a fair amount” of acceptance for bisexuality, with just over a third saying there is “some” acceptance, however more than three-quarters say that bi people are more accepted today than they were 10 years ago. Pew found that half of bi people knew they were bi before the age of 14 (ages 10 to 13 being the most common age of realization). Most bi respondents came out to someone between the ages of 14 and 24, though 19% came out after 25. Bi folks were also the least likely to be out to their families, with 35% of bi people saying their parents don’t know they’re bi.
In addition, bi people reported the lowest feelings of connection to the broader LGBT community, with just 18% feeling “extremely/very” connected and 40% feeling “somewhat” connected. Bi people also felt they have more in common with straight people (61%) than gay or lesbian people (55%). Historically, bi people have been misunderstood by straight society, but have often faced outright hostility within gay circles. A lot of progress has been made over the years, but as we can see, there’s still a long way to go.
When we view this year of bi data as a whole, what we see is that overall, the State of the Bi Union is strong. Bi people are the largest — and growing — subset of the LGBT community who continue to thrive even as other cohorts slightly shrink. We can also see how many more people there are who are bi but perhaps don’t fully realize it yet. However, bi visibility and community continue to be sore spots. Maybe the most encouraging aspect of all is that researchers are finally giving bisexuality the coverage it deserves, and the more we learn, the more the bi community can flourish.