Gen Z are more than twice as likely to identify as LGBTQ+, census finds

People aged 16-24 (aka Gen Z) are more than twice as likely to identify themselves as being part of the LGBTQ+ community, according to new research

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The data, which comes from the 2021 census and was released by the Office For National Statistics (ONS) earlier this month, surveyed all English and Welsh citizens aged 16 and over. It was the first year, after some 220 years of data-collecting, that the ONS asked citizens about their gender identity and sexual orientations.

Earlier in January, it was reported that 262,000 people in England and Wales identified as transgender and/or non-binary – 48,000 each as transgender men and women, and 30,000 as non-binary. Meanwhile, 1.5 million people (or 3.2 per cent of responders) identified their sexuality as gay or lesbian, bisexual, or otherwise existing outside of a heterosexual binary.

As reported by the ONS earlier this week (via PinkNews), more than half of these responders were part of Gen Z, with 6.91 per cent of the age bracket – or 436,000 responders – identifying themselves as queer (it should be noted, however, that this data does not take gender identity into consideration). Most of those specifically identified as bisexual, with four per cent of Gen Z responders (252,000 people) ticking that box.

In a statement shared with PinkNews, 21-year-old Raquel – an ambassador for queer youth charity Just Like Us (who personally identifies as a bisexual cis woman) – said she was “not surprised to see that the younger populations identify more with LGBT+ labels as there is less stigma and knowledge in the area”, but added that “it should be equal throughout all age groups”.

She continued: “I think the reason that older age groups do not identify as LGBT+ is because of a lack of education and negative stereotypes that unfortunately are difficult to unlearn. It is sad to think that there may be a lot of adults over 24 that may be LGBT+ but they don’t know or are too scared to come out.”

As for why Raquel, as a member of Gen Z, feels more privileged to be able to embrace her sexuality, she said: “I think I feel so comfortable calling myself bisexual because we are all more informed and educated nowadays about different sexual orientations, so when I began to understand myself and who I am attracted to, it was very obvious to me that I was indeed bisexual.”

More broadly, the 2021 census revealed that a majority of the UK’s queer population are women – 3.32 per cent of women (830,000 responders) identified with a non-hetero sexuality, compared to 3 per cent of men (706,000 responders).

There were further divides in England and Wales, too – while an almost identical amount of women identified as queer between England and Wales (3.32 per cent and 3.33 per cent, respectively), English men were more likely to be LGBT+ than Welsh men; 3.02 per cent of the former group identified themselves as queer, compared to 2.65 per cent of the latter.

“This data will allow national and local government to tailor their services,” LGBTQ+ charity Stonewall said in a statement, dubbing the latest census a “wake up call” for politicians and declaring Gen Z to be the “Rainbow Generation”.

They continued: “Soon these generations will be the biggest section of our workforce, the people who will be consuming our media, the talent pipeline for our sports, the audience for our cultural output, the people we want to nurture as our future voters.”

In her own statement, chief executive Nancy Kelly said the data reflected a “historic” step in queer representation. “This data, is a reminder that our leaders, institutions and governments need to step up efforts to truly champion our communities rather than using our lives in a ‘culture war’ that does not resonate with the experiences and values of voters,” she said.

The sentiment was echoed by Dominic Arnall – a chief executive at Just Like Us – who said: “Sadly, we know that young LGBT+ people face disproportionate challenges, including being twice as likely to face bullying as their straight peers.

“The census data makes it clearer than ever that issues of bullying must be tackled and that inclusive education should be the norm across the UK, so that the increasing number of openly LGBT+ young people can thrive in schools which are happy, welcoming and safe environments.”

The new census data comes after Will Young, recently told Channel 4 News that there is currently a “huge amount of misrepresentation of transgender people”.

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