2021 census: 1.5m in England and Wales identify with LGB+ sexual orientation

Members of the LGB+ community have told ITV News that they feel like they are 'finally owning' their sexuality, as Martha Fairlie reports

Some 1.5 million people in England and Wales identified with an LGB+ sexual orientation in the 2021 census – 3.2% of those aged 16 and over, figures show.

And 262,000 people said their gender identity was different from their sex registered at birth, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said. This represents 0.5% of the population aged 16 and over.

Data from the 2021 census for England and Wales is being published in stages over two years.

It is the first time figures on sexual orientation and gender identity have been included, with people aged 16 and over asked to provide this information on a voluntary basis.

Overall, 45.7 million (94.0%) of the population aged 16 years and over) answered the question on gender identity, and 44.9 million people (92.5%) filled in the question on sexual orientation.

Of the 262,000 people who said their gender identity was different from their sex registered at birth, 118,000 did not provide further detail.

Some 48,000 (0.1% of the population aged 16 and over) identified as a trans man, and 48,000 (0.1%) identified as a trans woman.

A total of 30,000 identified as non-binary while a further 18,000 people wrote in a different gender identity.

When asked about their sexual orientation, 43.4 million people (89.4% of the population aged 16 and over) identified as straight or heterosexual.

Some 748,000 (1.5%), described themselves as gay or lesbian, 624,000 (1.3%) as bisexual, and 165,000 (0.3%) selected “Other sexual orientation”.

Of those who selected the latter category, the most common responses included: pansexual (112,000, 0.23%), asexual (28,000, 0.06%), and queer (15,000, 0.03%).

ONS director Jen Woolford said the first census estimates were “crucial”, adding: “They will ensure decision-makers have the best information so they can better understand the extent and nature of disadvantage which people may be experiencing in terms of educational outcomes, health, employment, and housing.

“This is just the first snapshot. In future analysis we will be exploring sexual orientation and gender identity by key demographic variables, such as age and sex, as well as employment, health, education and ethnicity, among others.”

London was the region within England with the highest percentage of people who said their gender identity was different from their sex registered at birth – (0.91%).

The capital also had higher proportions of people identifying as trans men (0.16%) and trans women (0.16%) when compared with England and Wales.

It was also the region with the highest proportion of people who identified with an LGB+ orientation (4.3%) while the local authority with the highest such percentage was Brighton and Hove (10.7%).

The charity Stonewall said the publication of data on sexual orientation and gender identity in the census “means our country knows itself a little better today.”

Chief executive Nancy Kelley said: “For the past two centuries of data gathering through our national census, LGBTQ+ people have been invisible, with the stories of our communities, our diversity, and our lives missing from the national record.

“Today is a historic step forward after decades of Stonewall campaigning to record sexual orientation and gender identity in the census, finally painting an accurate picture of the diverse ‘Rainbow Britain’ that we now live in, where more and more of us are proud to be who we are.”