Google Searches Soar 1300% For These Terms Since 2004: Report

Having access to the internet has increasingly become affordable over time—with more and more people using it to accomplish a wide range of tasks. But apart from work, people also use popular search engines like Google to put their inquisitive minds at work—right from searching about famous foods across the world to taboo topics like sexuality.

Now, as per a report by Cultural Currents Institute, which is a market research company, since 2004, there has been a 1300% rise in user searches wherein they are questioning their own sexuality and gender and are searching for phrases: ‘am I gay,’ ‘am I lesbian,’ ‘am I trans,’ ‘how to come out,’ and ‘nonbinary’. This data is as per Google Trends from 2004 to 2023, the firm noted.

In total, there are five search terms considered—’am I gay,’ ‘am I lesbian,’ ‘am I trans,’ ‘how to come out,’ and ‘nonbinary.’ And, based on these, there has been an upward trend in the US.

Per the report, Utah—which is a US state with “traditionally conservative social values”—tops out in three of five categories.

On the other hand, Oklahoma topped out in the ‘home to come out’ category, which suggests that the US state has a “challenging environment for self-disclosure of identity.”

Cultural Currents Institute notes that “Google Trends data was collected for the search terms ‘am I gay,’ ‘am I lesbian,’ ‘am I trans,’ ‘how to come out,’ and ‘nonbinary’ for all 50 U.S. states and D.C. from January 2004 to May of 2023.”