Google searches for phrases that question their own sexuality and gender identity, including «Am I gay» and «Am I lesbian,» have increased by 1,300% since 2004, according to a new analysis.
The findings were published last week by the Cultural Currents Institute, a market research firm that studies public opinion trends, which collected Google Trends data from January 2004 through this month for questions related to sexual orientation and identity. gender in all 50 states.
Utah emerged as the state with the highest search volume for the phrases «Am I gay,» «Am I lesbian» and «Am I trans» since last May, according to the report.
He pointed to the «traditionally conservative social values” as a potentially significant factor in the data.
“This could indicate significant underlying questioning of identity among its Internet users, possibly driven by the conflict between personal feelings and societal expectations,” the reports say. “These tensions between public life and web searches are common in Utah, where we recently shared data indicating that searches for ‘VPN’ increased after the PornHub website blocked the status.”
Oklahoma had the highest search volume for the phrase «coming out» over the past year, followed by West Virginia, Mississippi, Louisiana and Kentucky. Oklahoma, West Virginia, Mississippi and Louisiana were in the lowest LGBTQ equality category in the State Equality Index 2022 Published by the Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest LGBTQ group. Kentucky ranked second lowest out of four categories that measure equality.
According to the report, the historical search volume for the term «non-binary» was limited, but it gained momentum in searches. Vermont was the state with the highest search volume for the term since last May.