Young Americans — particularly Gen Z — may have taken the scenic route, but it looks like many are finally arriving at something resembling common sense. And it’s about time.
1/ NEW: trans identification is in free fall among the young
(h/t @FIRE data in particular) pic.twitter.com/i0Z1BNcWG8
— Eric Kaufmann (@epkaufm) October 14, 2025
For years, this generation was bombarded by institutional gaslighting from schools, media, pop culture, and corporate PR departments — all parroting the same ideology: that gender is a spectrum, that biology is a social construct, and that children needed hormone therapy and new pronouns before they’d even learned long division. Anyone who dared question this gospel of confusion was labeled a bigot, a dinosaur, or worse.
But now, the data — and the conversation — are shifting.
2/ Non-conforming sexual identity (queer, questioning, etc) is also in sharp decline.
Gay and lesbian are stable while heterosexuality has rebounded by around 10 points since 2023. pic.twitter.com/fKD4G1rwi5
— Eric Kaufmann (@epkaufm) October 14, 2025
Recent reports and online commentary show that the sharp rise in trans identification and gender nonconformity among young people may have peaked, and is now receding. That’s not due to bigotry or “backlash.” It’s because young people are waking up to the realization that being told to question your very identity 24/7 isn’t liberation — it’s psychological warfare. They’re seeing through the glittery facade of TikTok ideology and starting to reclaim a little something called reality.
A reality where male and female aren’t just costumes. A reality where mental health isn’t treated with identity labels, but with support, structure, and truth.
3/ Not only this, but freshmen in 2024-25 were less trans and queer than seniors whereas it was the reverse when BTQ+ identity was surging in 2022-23.
This suggests that gender/sexual non-conformity will continue to fall. pic.twitter.com/pTW3HcRIhU
— Eric Kaufmann (@epkaufm) October 14, 2025
And yes — some credit belongs to experience. Lockdowns did more than disrupt routines; they stripped away stability, purpose, and normalcy, especially for kids and teens. When you take away school, sports, and community, what’s left? A digital world ready to fill the void with chaos. And for far too long, adults — particularly on the Left — encouraged it. They called it “progress.” They said it was compassion. In truth, it was neglect wrapped in activism.
So let’s be clear: this return to sanity isn’t reactionary. It’s restorative.
4/ What explains the sudden reversal of trans and queer? It’s not because the kids became less woke, more religious or more conservative.
Those beliefs remained stable throughout the 2020s. pic.twitter.com/7GaSpfvATY
— Eric Kaufmann (@epkaufm) October 14, 2025
Young people aren’t becoming “anti-trans” or “anti-gay.” They’re just learning that you don’t need to reject reality to be kind. That you don’t need a new identity every semester to be accepted. And that the human body isn’t a mistake waiting to be corrected by ideology or industry.
