Gen Z Are Twice As Likely To Identify As Queer, According To New Data

According to new census data published on Jan. 25, young people in England and Wales are twice as likely to identify as gay, lesbian, or bisexual. Published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the data, from 2021, revealed that 9.91% of the 16 - 24 age group identified as LGB+ — while 3.16% of the overall English and Welsh population identified as lesbian, gay, or bisexual. The ONS report also shows that more women (3.32%) identify as LGB+ compared to men (3%). As PinkNews notes, the data does not include gender identity.

Commenting on the new census data, the LGBTQ+ charity Stonewall said the statistics are a “wake-up call” to the government. “This data will allow national and local government to tailor their services,” the charity said in a statement. “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.”

Meanwhile, an ambassador for the LGBTQ+ young people’s charity Just Like Us told PinkNews that she was “not surprised” by the findings.

“I think I feel so comfortable calling myself bisexual because we are all more informed and educated nowadays about different sexual orientations.” 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 ... 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.”

On Jan. 6, a “once-a-decade” ONS report revealed the size of the LGBTQ+ population in England and Wales for the very first time and showed that an estimated 1.5 million people identify as LGB+, compared to 43.4 million people who identify as straight or heterosexual. Meanwhile, more than 260,000 people identified themselves as transexual.