Official figures: 1-in-10 young adults in UK identify as gay, lesbian, or bisexual.
The number has doubled in the past 5 years.
According to the Office of National Statistics - the UK's official national statistical institute - young people are increasingly likely to identify as queer.
The most recent analysis is from 2023 which the ONS has now published. That date indicates that over 10% of 16-24-year-olds in the UK identified as lesbian, gay, or bisexual.
It's worth noting that this number has doubled from comparable results in 2018.
Analysis by the ONS suggests that the primary driver of the increasing queerness of young people is that more people are identifying as Bisexual. In the 2023 data, 7.5 of people aged 16-24 identified as bisexual, up from 2.8% in 2018. Women are more likely to identify as bisexual than men.
The survey results confirm previous trends that younger people are more likely to identify as queer - the older you are the less likely you are to identify as something other than heterosexual.
Looking at the total population sample across all age groups, 3.8% of people identify as being lesbian, gay, or bisexual.
While it's difficult to be definitive about what's driving the changing numbers relating to sexuality, it seems probable that greater visibility, acceptance, and equality is creating an environment in which people can be more honest and authentic about their sexual desires and identity. While there's clearly more work to do, we're probably moving closer to a more accurate picture of just how many queer people there are in society.
When we look at the geographic distribution of queer people in the UK, unsurprisingly London has the biggest concentration. The lowest number of queer people is found in Northern Ireland - traditionally a more socially conservative part of the UK from which queer people tend to migrate to cities such as London or Liverpool.
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