Census provides first snapshot of sexuality

DETAILS of the proportion of people in Bristol who identify as straight, gay or bisexual have been revealed for the first time.

A question on sexual orientation for people aged 16 and over was added to the 2021 Census by the Office for National Statistics.

A question on gender identity - whether a person identified with their sex as registered at birth - was also included among the questions for the first time ever.

The ONS says the information it has received as a result will be "vital in helping shape services in years to come".

However, as the questions were voluntary, one significant factor is the number of people who declined to answer either of them.

In Bristol, 85.45% of respondents said they were straight or heterosexual - the lowest proportion in the South West, and below the national average of 89.4%.

The city had one of the highest proportions of residents who identified with a sexuality the ONS described as LGB+, totalling 6.06%, which was more than double the percentage in neighbouring South Gloucestershire, almost twice the national average and the highest outside London, Brighton, Manchester, Oxford, Cambridge,

Norwich and Lincoln.

In Bristol 2.2% of residents said they were gay or lesbian; 3.08% said they were bisexual; 0.49% pansexual (defined as attracted to people regardless of their sex or gender identity); 0.11% asexual (no sexual attraction to others); 0.13% queer (nonconventionally defined sexuality) and 0.05% stated what the ONS described as "another sexual orientation".

However, almost one in every 11 Bristol residents - 8.48% - did not answer the voluntary question, a higher proportion than those who identified as LGB+.

In neighbouring South Gloucestershire, 90.64% of residents said they were heterosexual and 2.82% identified with an LGB+ sexuality: 1.29% gay or lesbian; 1.24% bisexual; 0.19% pansexual; 0.07% asexual, 0.02% queer and 0.01% stating another sexual orientation.

Those who declined to answer the question made up 6.53% of the population.

Nationally, 43.4 million people (89.4%) identified as straight, 1.5 million people (3.2%) identified with an LGB+ orientation and 3.6 million (7.5%) did not answer the question.

In response to the gender identity question, 92.45% of Bristol respondents identified with their sex at birth, 6.73% did not answer the question and 0.82% - around one in every 122 people - identified with a different gender.

Of those, 0.29% said their gender was different to birth but did not give any specifics, 0.12% identified as a trans woman (registered female at birth, but now identifies as a man), 0.11% as a trans man (registered female at birth, but now identifies as a man), 0.2% were non-binary (not identifying as a man or woman), and 0.1% wrote in another gender identity.

In South Gloucestershire, 94.59% of residents identified with the gender they were registered with at birth, 0.38% said it was different and 5.02% did not answer the question. Nationally, 262,000 people in England and Wales or 0.5% of the population identified with a gender different from their sex registered at birth.

ONS director Jen Woolford said having a "first snapshot" of gender identity and sexual orientation at a local level was crucial to "better understand the extent and nature of disadvantage which people may be experiencing in terms of educational outcomes, health, employment, and housing".