Overview

• Eric Kaufmann’s Centre for Heterodox Social Science report analyzes campus datasets and finds fewer students choosing a gender option other than male or female since a 2022–2023 peak.
• FIRE’s 2025 undergraduate survey shows 3.6% identified as a gender other than male or female, down from 5.2% in 2024 and 6.8% in 2022–2023, and FIRE confirmed Kaufmann used six years of its demographic data.
• Institutional polls cited in the report show notable declines in nonbinary identification at elite schools, including Phillips Academy Andover falling to about 3% in 2025 from roughly 7–9% in 2023 and Brown University dropping to 2.6% in 2025 from 5% in 2022–2023.
• The analysis describes a rebound in heterosexual identification with gay and lesbian shares steady, while bisexual and other queer categories retreat from 2023 highs.
• The findings are contested, with critics flagging survey-weighting concerns and pointing to conflicting signals from sources like the UCLA Williams Institute and Gallup, as debate continues over possible causes ranging from mental health shifts to political climate effects.