A new Pew Research Center survey reveals that more than nine in ten LGBTQ adults in the U.S. are out to someone, but when you focus on the transgender portion of the study, the story becomes more complicated. While visibility is growing, acceptance is not keeping pace, and for many trans people, coming out remains an act of both courage and calculated risk.
Pew’s October 2025 survey of nearly 4,000 LGBTQ adults found that most first recognized they might be part of the community before age 14. For transgender adults, that awareness often arrives early too, yet the timing of when they tell someone is very different. Many trans respondents waited until adulthood to share their identity, describing it less as fear and more as survival. They knew who they were but did not always know if the world around them was safe enough to handle the truth.
That question of safety appears again in Pew’s findings on acceptance. While the majority of gay, lesbian, and bisexual respondents said their loved ones and coworkers were accepting after they came out, transgender adults reported a much colder reception. Only about a third said their parents or guardians fully accepted them. At work, barely a quarter of those who are out described their coworkers as supportive. Among extended family, full acceptance was reported by barely one in ten trans adults.
The gap becomes even wider when you zoom out to society as a whole. Just thirteen percent of all LGBTQ respondents, trans and non-trans alike, said they believe transgender people in the U.S. are broadly accepted today. That compares with more than half who feel that gay, lesbian, or bisexual people are generally accepted. It is a reminder that while visibility has increased, equality of experience has not.
Pew’s researchers also noted that for many transgender people, coming out is not a single event. It is something done carefully, often repeatedly, in different stages depending on who is listening. One participant described it as a negotiation between honesty and safety. Another called it a lifelong process of editing my truth to fit the room.
For TransVitae readers, those words might sound painfully familiar. The numbers simply confirm what many already live every day: that being seen and being accepted are still two very different things. The data does not just measure disclosure; it maps the emotional geography of risk, family dynamics, workplace culture, and self-preservation.
So while Pew’s headline might celebrate that almost every LGBTQ person has come out to someone, the finer details remind us why community support still matters. True acceptance for transgender people cannot be measured only by who knows; it must also be measured by who stays, who listens, and who chooses love over judgment.
