More than 1 million nonbinary adults live in US: research

An estimated 1.2 million adults who identify themselves as nonbinary live in the United States, according to research from the UCLA School of Law released Tuesday. 

The majority of the people who identify as nonbinary are between the ages of 18 and 29: 76 percent. Ninety-six percent of the 1.2 million people were born in the United States. 

Thirty-one percent of the people identified as nonbinary in the study use the term “queer” to identify their sexual orientation. Seventeen percent say they are bisexual, 17 percent responded they are pansexual and 14 percent say they are asexual, according to the research. 

The research found that 58 percent of those who identify as nonbinary are white, compared to 16 percent who are multiracial, 15 percent who are Latino, and 9 percent who are black. 

More than half of the people surveryed, 55 percent, said they had been physically attacked or sexually assaulted by the time they turned 18.  

The lead author of the research, Bianca D.M. Wilson, said in the report that nonbinary people make up a substantial part of the LGBTQ community, and that “they appear to experience similar kinds of vulnerabilities seen in the larger LGBTQ population.”

Zach Boyer, a person who identifies as nonbinary, told The Washington Post that they’re excited for people to have the chance to express themselves in this new type of language.  

“Maybe realize that they’re a part of our beautiful, eclectic and diverse community,” Boyer told the Post. 

This comes as various celebrities, such as Demi Lovato, have publicly announced they are nonbinary and Wales elected its first nonbinary mayor, the Post noted. 

The research was conducted by using representative surveys from Generations and TransPop.