The shift in attitudes towards gay rights in the past generation has been drastic. So I always assumed that in recent years, the percentage of Americans who identified as gay or lesbian would have risen. I was surprised, then, when sociologist Tristan Moore passed along the results from the latest General Social Survey, which found that the percentages of gay men, bisexual men and lesbians have held firm over the past decade.

But rates of female bisexuality, he noted, told a different story. According to that same survey, their numbers have skyrocketed. Bridges and his co-author, sociologist Mignon Moore, explore the significance of this trend, and why one group in particular – young black women – seem to be on the leading edge of a bisexuality boom.

Also today: how well cartoon advertising works for e-cigarette makers, racial barriers to getting an organ transplant, and how AI can transform journalism.

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A marcher waves a flag during the Capital Pride Parade in Washington, D.C. on June 8, 2019. Nicole S. Glass/Shutterstock.com

23% of young black women now identify as bisexual

Tristan Bridges, University of California, Santa Barbara; Mignon R. Moore, Barnard College

According to the General Social Survey, the percentage of men and women who identify as gay or lesbian has held firm. But the share of women who say they're bisexual has skyrocketed.

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