Record number of people in UK identifying as lesbian, gay or bisexual, stats show
RECORD numbers of people in Britain are identifying as lesbian, gay or bisexual, official statistics show.
In all, 1.8million now say they are LGB — up from 1.1million in 2017.
That is a rise from 2.1 per cent of the total population to 3.3 per cent.
Of those, 55.1 per cent identify as gay or lesbian and 44.9 per cent are bisexual.
It means the proportion of heterosexuals in the country has fallen from 95 to 93.4 per cent in the past five years, the latest numbers reveal.
The Office for National Statistics put the rise in openly out LGB people to a shift in social attitudes over time.
The likelihood of being straight sharply decreases with age, with nearly one in ten 16 to 24-year-olds identifying as LGB compared with just two per cent of 50 to 64-year-olds.
Young people in the LGB group are most likely to be bisexual, with just over two-thirds identifying this way.
The proportion falls to below half for 25 to 34-year-olds.
And men are far more likely than women to identify as gay or bisexual — at 3.8 per cent to 1.8 per cent.
But the proportion of LGB women aged 16 to 24 shot up to 10.6 per cent, compared with 7.9 of men in the same age bracket.
A regional breakdown shows London has the highest proportion of LGB people at 5.3 per cent, while the East Midlands has the lowest at 2.1 per cent.
Across the countries of the United Kingdom, Northern Ireland has the smallest proportion of LGB people at 2.1 per cent, followed by England at 3.3 per cent, Scotland at 3.4 per cent and Wales at 4.3 per cent.
Robbie de Santos, of LGBT rights charity Stonewall, insisted yesterday: “It’s encouraging that more lesbian, bi and gay young people feel comfortable being their true selves.
“No one should have to hide who they are because they fear backlash or discrimination.”