Census 2021 results
We are thrilled that lesbian, gay, bi and trans people in England and Wales are starting to be included in census data, with new sexual orientation and gender identity questions in the 2021 census! For almost 200 years LGBTQ+ people have not had the opportunity to be counted in the modern-day census.
From a sexual orientation perspective the results showed there are at least:
- 748,000 gay and lesbian people
- 624,000 bi people
- 112,000 pan people
- 28,000 ace people
- 15,000 queer people
- And a further 165,000 people using different terms to describe their sexual orientation
In total, that's 1.5 million people in England and Wales.
From a Gender Identity perspective the results show there are at least:
- 118,000 trans men
- 48,000 trans women
- 30,000 non-binary people
- And a further 18,000 people using different terms to describe their gender identity
In total, that's 262,000 people that indicated that their gender identity was different from their sex registered at birth.
Our CEO, Andrew Evans said "Following two decades of dedicated campaigning, it is fantastic to see sexual orientation and gender identity acknowledged and counted in this historic moment. From the results we can see that LGBTQ+ representation is present in every community across England and Wales. It is really encouraging to see this representation across all communities within England and Wales, both in rural areas and cities.
It's also fantastic to see, from the breakdown of LGBTQ+ people by age, that with each generation people feel increasingly more comfortable to live authentically within their sexual orientation and gender identity. The data shows that people aged 16-24 are over twice as likely as the general population to share their lesbian, gay or bi identity and be counted. (6.91% compared to 3.16%).
But we are also aware that not everyone is willing or felt able to share their sexual orientation or gender identity. This means that we are likely seeing an overall under-representation in these newly released figures."