EDITORS' CORNER
Students walking around the campus of Portland State University are more likely to bump into a self-identified “asexual” student than one who is Republican.
The new climate survey from the university found about six percent of students identify as “asexual.” Yet when asked about political views, only four percent of respondents said they were either “conservative” or “very conservative.”
In total, half of the students at Portland State University are confused about their gender or have homosexual inclinations, according to a new survey published by the campus.
The public university released its 2025 climate survey results on Friday, January 23.
“The headlines here are encouraging: 73% of responding students agreed they feel welcome on campus,” President Ann Cudd stated in a university news release.
“Crucially, most students feel they can express their religious, spiritual, and political views — and that sense of safety is even stronger regarding gender identity and sexual orientation,” she stated. “This speaks to the inclusive culture we have built together.”
Nearly 1,400 students answered a question about sexual orientation. However, around 400 of the survey takers skipped.
About six percent of respondents said they were “asexual,” while 16 percent identified as “bisexual.” Similar amounts identified as “homosexual” as did “pansexual,” with six percent of students selecting these options. Meanwhile, around 49 percent of students said they were heterosexual.
A separate question asked about “gender identity.” Nearly 15 percent said they were “non-binary/nonconforming/genderqueer.” The rest picked the conventional “woman” or “man.”
The results are the latest to find elevated levels of LGBT identification among college students.
Several years ago, Brown University’s student newspaper found that 40 percent of the student body identified as something other than heterosexual male or heterosexual female. A more recent survey found about 33 percent of Brown freshmen identify as LGBT, The College Fix reported in Oct. 2025.
Social scientists have suggested LGBT identification is linked to peer pressure.
“LGBT behavior is up 4 points among young people since 2008, but LGBT identity is up 11 points,” Eric Kaufmann, a researcher on social trends, told The Fix in 2022.
He noted that “bisexual identification” does not match with behavior.
“Among women, only around a fifth of bisexuals in 2008-10 said they only slept with men in the past 5 years,” he said. “That share has risen steadily, so that it is now the case that the majority of female bisexuals only sleep with men.”
Kaufmann previously found around 40 percent of students identify as LGBT at elite colleges.
Other scholars, including evolutionary biologist Colin Wright, have pointed out that transgender identification is a “social contagion.”
This theory, which argues peer pressure is driving LGBT identification, has been bolstered by the work of Dr. Lisa Littman on Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria. Journalist Abigail Shrier also heavily documented the “transgender craze” and its effect on young women.
Formerly gender-confused girls, such as Helena Kerschner, have also shared how social media and internet peer groups can lead people into believing they are the opposite sex.
