In a university lab in New York state, researchers have been watching something remarkable unfold over the past 15 years: young women's sexuality is shifting in ways that men's simply isn't. Their findings, published by a team studying sexuality, gender and young adulthood, suggest the boundaries of heterosexuality are quietly expanding for women — but not for men.
The team, based in a Human Sexualities Research Lab, has tracked more than 10,000 undergraduate students since 2011. What they've documented tracks closely with a 2023 Gallup poll showing that 28.5% of Gen Z women identified as LGBTQ+, compared with just 10.6% of Gen Z men. The research adds depth to those numbers by also measuring attraction and behavior, not just identity.
The numbers are striking. In 2011, about 22% of female students reported attraction that wasn't exclusively to men. By 2026, that figure had climbed to nearly 50%. Similar shifts appeared across sexual behavior and how women labeled their sexuality: the share who reported partners not exclusively male rose from 8% to 35%, while those identifying as something other than exclusively heterosexual jumped from 18% to 44%. These patterns held broadly across racial groups.
Crucially, the change wasn't mainly about women moving from attraction to men to attraction to women. Instead, women's responses spread across the spectrum — from mostly attracted to men to somewhere in between. The biggest shift was simply a decline in exclusive attraction to men.
Young men, by contrast, barely moved. The share reporting attraction not exclusively to women stayed nearly flat: around 14% in 2011 and 13% in 2026. No steady, long-term trend emerged, only small fluctuations. The researchers also noted that men who did identify outside heterosexuality were more likely to claim an exclusively gay identity — a pattern they tied to gender norms that give men less room for sexual in-between.
Some researchers have wondered whether COVID-19 lockdowns sparked these changes, since the pandemic interrupted social life and gave people more time for reflection. The data does show a pandemic-era bump among women. But the trend was already visible before 2020 and has continued along the same general path since. For men, any movement was small and clustered around the pandemic years.
So why are women's boundaries expanding while men's stay fixed? The researchers point to shifting gender norms, increased visibility of LGBTQ+ identities, and a cultural climate that offers women more language and freedom to explore. The findings suggest we may be witnessing a genuine, lasting change in how a generation understands its own sexuality.