Health
Number of young adults identifying as transgender plunges by nearly half in two years
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More data is emerging supporting a sharp decline in the number of young adults identifying as transgender or non-binary.
Last week, Fox News Digital reported on data shared by Eric Kaufman, a professor of politics at the University of Buckingham, showing that the share of college students identifying as anything other than male or female has been cut in half in just two years.
Now, Jean Twenge, professor of psychology at San Diego State University, has identified additional data that appears to confirm these findings on a wider scale.
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First, Twenge analyzed data from the nationally representative Household Pulse survey, which asked people directly about identifying as transgender, as she stated in an article for Generation Tech.
“The Household Pulse data showed a decline in trans ID among 18- to 22-year-olds in 2024, but I was cautious about drawing conclusions from it, as the decline appeared only in a limited time period (July to September 2024) — and two of the three survey administrations added an option for non-binary identification that wasn’t there before,” she wrote. “Maybe that was why identifying as trans declined.”
More data is emerging that supports a sharp decline in the number of young adults identifying as transgender or non-binary. (iStock)
Next, the professor — who is also the author of the book “Generations: The Real Differences between Gen Z, Millennials, Gen X, Boomers and Silents” — looked at another nationally representative survey.
The Cooperative Election Study (CES), a nonprobability-based survey fielded each year in the fall by YouGov and administered by Tufts University, asked about transgender identification among all U.S. adults from 2021 to 2024. It also included a separate question about identifying as non-binary.
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In 2021, 2022 and 2024, the CES asked, “Do you identify as transgender?” The choices were “yes,” “no” and “prefer not to say.”
“Prefer not to say” responses were treated as missing data, Twenge shared with Fox News Digital.
Beginning in 2021, the sex/gender question of the CES asked, “What is your gender?” with choices of “man,” “woman,” “non-binary” and “other.”
Beginning in 2021, the sex/gender question of the CES asked, “What is your gender?” with choices of “man,” “woman,” “non-binary” and “other.” (Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images)
Among 18- to 22-year-olds, trans identification was cut nearly in half from 2022 to 2024 — and non-binary identification dropped by more than half between 2023 and 2024.
“When I looked at adults of all ages in the survey … I found a huge increase in identifying as transgender from those born before 1980 (Gen X and Boomers) to those born in the early 2000s (who are now 21 to 25 years old),” Twenge told Fox News Digital.
“Identifying as transgender then declined, especially for those born in 2005 and 2006 (who are now 18 to 20 years old).”
“I think the question now is not if trans is in decline, but how far it will fall.”
There are several theories as to why this is happening.
“One possibility is changes in acceptance; as acceptance increased, more young adults identified as transgender and/or were willing to identify as transgender in a survey,” Twenge said. “When acceptance declined, identifying as transgender (or at least identifying as transgender on a survey) declined.”
Among 18- to 22-year-olds, trans identification was cut nearly in half from 2022 to 2024 — and non-binary identification dropped by more than half between 2023 and 2024. (iStock)
In previous analyses looking at data from another survey, Twenge found that the increase in identifying as transgender between 2014 and 2023 did not extend to people over age 45 (Gen X and boomers).
“That makes it less likely that the changes are due to acceptance, which should impact people of all ages,” she said. “However, it’s possible that acceptance increased more among young adults between 2014 and 2023 and then decreased more into 2024.”
Twenge emphasized that identifying as transgender and identifying as non-binary are two different things.
“One of the reasons I did this analysis was because the surveys Prof. Kaufmann relied on did not ask about identifying as transgender — they asked about identifying as non-binary or something other than male or female,” she noted. “I wanted to see if there was a decline in identifying as transgender.”
She added, “I also thought it was important to look at a nationally representative sample and not just at students from elite schools.”
“Once people become more comfortable [with] who they are, they stop needing to define themselves so rigidly,” a mental health expert said. (iStock)
Kaufmann applauded Twenge’s new report, calling her “the best in the business.”
“It was good to see that mainstream academic generation researchers are following up,” he told Fox News Digital. “Her data very much reinforces what I found using FIRE, Brown and Andover Phillips data.”
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“I think the question now is not if trans is in decline,” he added, “but how far it will fall — and what the implications will be for the cultural progressive project, and for trends in gender surgery and diagnosis.”
“Perhaps young people are realizing they don’t have to announce or label everything about themselves to be valid.”
Jonathan Alpert, a New York City psychotherapist, said this shift likely marks a “natural correction.”
“For a while, we taught young people to over-interpret every feeling. Therapy culture told them that every discomfort needed a label or diagnosis,” Alpert, who was not part of the cited surveys, previously told Fox News Digital. “For some, that label became ‘non-binary’ — not identifying with a gender.”
Rather than rejecting who they are, Alpert said, young people may simply be tired of feeling pressure to define every emotion or difference with a new identity.
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“So, in essence, it’s the performance that’s slowing down — at least in what this study showed,” he said. “A few years ago, identity was treated almost like a social badge. Now, perhaps young people are realizing they don’t have to announce or label everything about themselves to be valid.”
Alpert said he sees this same pattern in his own therapy practice.
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“Once people become more comfortable [with] who they are, they stop needing to define themselves so rigidly. To me, that’s a sign of growing self-assurance, not intolerance.”
Fox News Digital reached out to Tufts University and to the U.S. Census Bureau requesting comment.
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An experimental drug has shown promise in fighting a hard-to-treat form of bladder cancer known as BCG-unresponsive high-risk non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC).
BCG (Bacillus Calmette-Guérin) is an immunotherapy drug that is often the first-line treatment for certain early-stage bladder cancers.
The new drug, TAR-200 — which was evaluated in a trial sponsored and conducted by Janssen Research & Development, LLC, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson — may offer a less invasive alternative to bladder removal surgery.
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TAR-200 is a small, drug-releasing device placed directly into the bladder through a simple outpatient procedure, without general anesthesia, according to the study press release.
Once inserted, it slowly releases the chemotherapy drug gemcitabine over several weeks.
Researchers say the new bladder-inserted device could spare patients from losing their bladder entirely. (iStock)
“Traditionally, these patients have had very limited treatment options. This new therapy is the most effective one reported to date for the most common form of bladder cancer,” said study lead Sia Daneshmand, M.D., director of urologic oncology with Keck Medicine of USC, in a press release.
“The findings of the clinical trial are a breakthrough in how certain types of bladder cancer might be treated, leading to improved outcomes and saved lives.”
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Bladder cancer is the fourth most common cancer in men and the 11th most common cancer in women.
According to the Urology Care Foundation, non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer is found in the tissue that lines the inner surface of the bladder.
“Bladder cancer is one of the 10 most common cancers worldwide, yet treatment options have remained largely unchanged for over 40 years.”
High-risk NMIBC carries a greater chance of coming back after treatment. This study aimed to find an option for patients whose cancer recurred even after standard therapy.
“The standard treatment plan for these patients was surgery to remove the bladder and surrounding tissue and organs, which has many health risks and may negatively impact patients’ quality of life,” said Daneshmand.
This new therapy could eventually allow some patients to avoid that procedure.
Trial results showed that many patients stayed cancer-free for more than two years. (iStock)
All participants in the study had high-risk NMIBC that did not respond to the standard immunotherapy drug BCG. The study was split into multiple groups who tested different combinations of drugs and treatment methods.
In one group, patients received TAR-200 once every three weeks for about six months, followed by maintenance treatments every 12 weeks for up to two years.
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Among 85 patients in this group, 82.4% showed no detectable signs of cancer after treatment. In that group, 52.9% remained cancer-free at one year, and many stayed cancer-free for more than two years without needing additional therapy.
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In another group of patients with a less aggressive type of early-stage bladder cancer, early disease-free survival rates were 85.3% at six months and 81.1% at nine months. Overall, 94% were able to keep their bladders.
The clinical trial results were published earlier this year in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
The TAR-200 device delivers gemcitabine directly to the bladder, keeping the drug where it’s needed most. (iStock)
The researchers emphasized that this is still mid-stage (Phase 2b) data. Longer-term, larger trials and regulatory reviews are still needed before the treatment could become standard care.
“Because the study didn’t include a traditional comparison (no randomized control arm), we can’t definitively say how TAR-200 stacks up against other treatments in a fair head-to-head way,” the researchers wrote.
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Patients in this study are a specific subset (BCG-unresponsive and eligible for bladder preservation) and may not represent all bladder-cancer cases.
“Also, follow-up time remains relatively short and the number of patients modest, meaning we don’t yet know how long the benefits will last or how they apply to larger, more diverse groups of people,” the researchers added.
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Officials in Tiburon, California, have moved to prohibit the sale of all tobacco.
On Wednesday, the town council unanimously passed an ordinance that would ban the sale of cigarettes, cigars, vapes, e-cigarettes and all other nicotine products.
Tiburon Mayor Holli Thier told Fox News Digital in a statement that she is “pleased to have sponsored” and “voted to save lives and save our environment.”
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“With local youth in Marin County vaping at twice the national average, it is critical that we take all efforts to reduce teen addiction,” she added. “By banning all tobacco sales here in Tiburon, we are preventing youth from getting addicted and protecting our environment.”
Cigarettes are the biggest source of single-use plastic finding its way into rivers, bays and oceans in the world, Thier said.
Officials in Tiburon, California, have moved forward to prohibit the sale of tobacco products in the Bay Area. (iStock)
An anti-tobacco group of high school students from across Marin County, the Youth Advocacy Committee (YAC), were present at a few town council meetings to advocate for the ordinance.
Diana Garcia, a YAC student, reiterated her strong support for the ban.
“I urge you to keep supporting this amendment to protect the health and future of our youth. You have a chance to set an example for communities to follow,” she said at the Nov. 5 meeting.
In 2022, nearly 50 million U.S. adults reported the use of any tobacco product, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
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The CDC also reports that smoking and secondhand smoke exposure cause over 480,000 deaths each year, with “smoking harm[ing] nearly every organ of the body and caus[ing] many diseases.”
The new anti-tobacco ordinance is set to take effect in December. (iStock)
The 2023 County Health Rankings & Roadmaps report by the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine ranked Marin County as the healthiest California county.
“We remain committed to doing the hard work and changing the outcomes so all in Marin can thrive and live healthy lives,” said Niccore Tyler, Marin County’s health and human services’ chief strategy officer, at the time.
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The California Fuels & Convenience Alliance penned an opposition letter to the town council.
“We believe this complete prohibition sends a discouraging message to small businesses and entrepreneurs. Small businesses, including convenience stores and gas stations, are essential to communities and provide residents with convenient access to everyday necessities,” it read.
Nearly 50 million U.S. adults reported the use of any tobacco product in 2022. (iStock)
“Complete prohibitions on product categories, rather than reasonable regulation, send a message that small businesses may face unpredictable restrictions, creating uncertainty that discourages entrepreneurship and investment in Tiburon,” the letter continued.
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The ordinance is set to take effect in December.
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