More than one in 20 under-35s in Adur identify with LGB+ sexuality

A rainbow flag is held aloft as the Pride in London parade makes its way through the streets of central, London.

More than one in 20 people in Adur aged under 35 years old identify with an LGB+ sexual orientation, new census figures show.

Stonewall said the latest census breakdown shows that with each passing generation, more people feel safer to come out as LGBT+ and live as their true selves.

The census data shows 380 people aged between 16 and 24 years old in Adur said they identified with a sexuality other than heterosexual when the census took place in March 2021, alongside 385 aged 25 to 34.

It means about 6.4% of those aged under 35 in Adur said they identified with an LGB+ sexuality.

Across England and Wales, the majority of LGB+ people were aged between 16 and 34 years (57.9%), with about 6.2% percent of the age group identifying with a minority sexuality.

The category LGB+ covers people identifying as lesbian, gay or bisexual, as well as pansexual, asexual, queer or any other sexual orientation apart from heterosexual.

The proportion of LGB+ young people varied across the nation with Brighton and Hove at the top of the list (14.8% of under-35s) and Slough at the bottom (2.8%).

Additionally, the data shows females in Adur were more likely to identify with a minority sexuality – with 1,110 saying they were not straight compared to 675 males.

Nationally, 830,000 females (3.3%) identified with an LGB+ sexual orientation compared to 706,000 males (3%).

The census also asked people, for the first time, about their gender identity. In Adur, 120 (0.2%) people said they did not identify with the gender assigned to them at birth.