A new study from researchers at Binghamton University’s Human Sexualities Lab found that young women are increasingly identifying beyond exclusive heterosexuality, while young men’s sexual identities have remained largely unchanged over the past 15 years. But researchers say the real story isn’t simply that more women identify as queer – it’s what the gap reveals about gender expectations.
Analyzing surveys of college students from 2011 to 2026, researchers found women were significantly more likely over time to report same-sex attraction, behavior or identities beyond “straight.” Young men, however, showed little change.
“Our findings don’t just tell the story of young people becoming less heterosexual or young women becoming more queer,” the researchers wrote in The Conversation. “We believe they support the idea that heterosexuality may no longer organize gender in quite the same way for women and men. For young women, its boundaries appear more permeable. For young men, heterosexuality remains bound to masculinity, status and social recognition.”
Those findings echo Gallup’s 2025 survey showing LGBTQ+ identification continues to rise, particularly among younger generations and women, with bisexual identity driving much of the increase.
The Binghamton researchers argue that women have gained greater freedom to express identities that don’t fit traditional expectations, while many men still face cultural pressure to prove their masculinity through compulsory heterosexuality. Decades of public health and gender research support that broader context. Studies published in The Lancet Public Health and by organizations such as Equimundo have linked rigid masculine norms to poorer mental health, greater acceptance of violence, intimate partner violence and reduced willingness to seek help.
Rather than asking why more young women are identifying beyond heterosexuality, the study leaves readers with a broader question: What would our communities look like if masculinity was not defined by men’ s relationships to dominance, control and compulsory heterosexuality?
The researchers suggest the growing divide between young women and men may persist unless society expands the ways men are allowed to define themselves. Just as women have gained greater freedom to move beyond rigid gender expectations, creating more room for men to embrace a full range of human emotions and authentic self-expression could benefit not only women and LGBTQ+ people, but men, communities and the country as a whole.
This story is brought to you by Rosedale Health and Wellness and Dudley’s Place.
