Transgenderism Trend Is Losing Steam In U.S. Campuses

The trans trend and trans-identification among young people appears to be losing momentum. This was supported by recent data taken from college campuses that shows a sharp decline in the number of Gen Zers identifying as transgender over the past three years.

Eric Kaufmann, a professor of politics at the University of Buckingham, conducted his own analysis of a large survey of U.S. undergraduates — which included a question asking them to identify their gender.

Anything that isn't a man or woman is considered "gender non-conforming," the surveying organization shared with Fox News Digital.

In the 2025 survey of 68,000 students, only 3.6 percent of respondents identified as a gender other than male or female.

"By comparison, the figure was 5.2 percent in 2024 and 6.8 percent in both 2022 and 2023," Kaufmann wrote in his analysis, which was published on UnHerd.com.

"In other words, the share of trans-identified students has effectively halved in just two years."

The report also found that "non-conforming sexual identity" has sharply declined, according to Kaufmann. Those identifying as gay or lesbian remained "stable," although heterosexuality has risen 10 points since 2023.

Additionally, in 2024-2025, fewer college first-year students identified as "trans or queer" compared to seniors — which is the opposite of what occurred in the 2022-2023 year.

"This suggests that gender/sexual non-conformity will continue to fall," Kaufmann wrote in an X post sharing the data.

The annual survey — College Free Speech Rankings — is conducted by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

The aim is to gather students' opinions on freedom of speech, along with demographic information like gender.

Kaufmann conducted his analyses using six years of demographic data from the survey, FIRE confirmed to Fox News Digital.

His independent report, "The Decline of Trans and Queer Identity among Young Americans," was published by the Centre of Heterodox Social Science and has not been peer-reviewed.

"Our survey looks at student attitudes for free expression and is conducted for that purpose," FIRE told Fox News Digital. "As a side effect of asking demographic questions of so many respondents, one can glean trends in demographics, as Professor Kaufmann has done here."