A new Gallup report shows that 7.6% of U.S. adults now identify themselves as LGBTQ, up from 5.6% four years ago.

In 2012, when Gallup first measured sexual orientation and gender identity, only 3.5% identified as LGBTQ.

Younger generations are driving the increase.

“Overall, each younger generation is about twice as likely as the generation that preceded it to identify as LGBTQ+, Gallup explains on its website, reporting the percentages as follows:

Silent Generation (born 1945 or earlier): 1.1%

Baby Boomers (born 1946-1964): 2.3%

Generation X (born 1965-1980): 4.5%

Millennials (born 1981-1996): 9.8%

Generation Z (born 1997-2012): 22.3%

Overall, Gallup found that LGBTQ identification is almost twice as high among women (8.4%) as men (4.7%). The group with the highest percentage is Generation Z women, at 28.5%.

The Bible clearly teaches that homosexuality is sin, as Franklin Graham explained in a 2020 open letter to the LGBTQ community in the U.K.:

“The rub, I think, comes in whether God defines homosexuality as sin. The answer is yes. But God goes even further than that, to say that we are all sinners—myself included. The Bible says that every human being is guilty of sin and in need of forgiveness and cleansing. The penalty of sin is spiritual death—separation from God for eternity.

“That’s why Jesus Christ came. He became sin for us. He didn’t come to condemn the world, He came to save the world by giving His life on the cross as a sacrifice for our sins. And if we’re willing to accept Him by faith and turn away from our sins, He will forgive us and give us new life—eternal life—in Him.”

Photo: Erin Lefevre/NurPhoto via AP