Census data has revealed that people aged between 16 and 24 are twice as likely to identify as trans than the overall UK population.
According to The Times:
Sixty-three thousand of that age group identified as trans in the census, or 1 per cent, compared with just 0.54 per cent for the population as a whole, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said.
Those aged 16-24 were also identifying as lesbian, gay, bisexual or another minority sexual orientation at double the rate of the population in England and Wales, with 436,000 or 6.91 per cent doing so.
Within that age group, people were twice as likely to identify as bisexual — at 4 per cent, or 252,000 – than gay or lesbian.
The data was revealed as part of the March 2021 census, which asked questions about gender identity for the first time.
The ONS said the “new insight and data which we have never had before” will help decision-makers “understand the extent and nature of disadvantage” which some may be experiencing.
Earlier this month census data revealed that more than 250,000 people now identify as transgender in England and Wales, painting the true picture of gender identity in the UK for the first time.
Yesterday’s figures broke down gender identity and sexual orientation by age.
They showed that males were more likely than females to have identified as gay or lesbian, but females were more likely to have identified as bisexual, pansexual, asexual or queer.
Women in the youngest categories were three times more likely to identify as bisexual than gay or lesbian and across all age groups 71 per cent of bisexuals were female.
Among the transgender people, one in three people who identified as a trans man or a trans woman said their sex was different from that of their gender identity.
About two thirds answered with the same sex they had put down for their gender identity.
More than half who identify as LGB+ are younger than 34, despite this younger age group accounting for less than a third of the overall population.
