Just one in 100 Brits are Gay

Winty · 23-09-2010 5:42pm #1

The Journalist almost sounds disappointed

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/3150555/Just-one-in-100-Brits-are-gay.html

ONLY one per cent of Brits say they are gay or lesbian, the first ever official figures revealed today.

The ground-breaking nationwide survey reveals 480,000 adults describe themselves as homosexuals � just one in every 100.

Another 245,000 � or one in 200 � are bisexual.

Astonishingly, 1.4million people � or three per cent of adults � say they "don't know" if they are gay, straight or bisexual.

The findings demolish claims by gay campaigners that up to one in ten people in Britain are homosexual.

A Government report in 2005 estimated that up to 3.6million people � or six per cent of the population � were gay.

But a massive survey of more than 450,000 people by the Office for National Statistics has now shattered these estimates.

The survey � the largest official poll outside of the census � revealed that 95 per cent of Brits describe themselves as "heterosexual" or straight.

In contrast, just one per cent say they are gay and 0.5 per cent bisexual.

Another 0.5 per cent describe themselves as "other".

Three per cent � or 1.4million people � say they "don't know."

Family groups today said the figures raised serious questions about the millions of pounds of taxpayers' cash spent on gay causes.

Family Education Trust Norman Wells told The Sun: "This survey suggests that previous estimates of 6-9 per cent are wide of the mark and that the number of people who say they are gay, lesbian or bisexual is far smaller than the government and gay rights activists would have us believe.

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"Now we have a clearer view of the real figures, we need to start asking some serious questions about the vast sums of taxpayers' money being spent on such a small minority and the disproportionate amount of attention they receive both in Whitehall and in the media."

But gay campaigners claimed the figures underestimated the number of homosexuals in Britain.

Stonewall spokeswoman Ruth Hunt said: "This is the first time that people were asked and data collection happened on their doorsteps or over the phone, which may deter people from giving accurate responses - particularly if someone isn't out at home.

"We'd expect to see these statistics increase over time as people's confidence in the survey grows and sexual orientation becomes a routine part of data collection."

Mr Benevolent · 23-09-2010 5:42pm

Impossible.

Biggins · 23-09-2010 5:43pm

Aaa... The Sun. Always so accurate.

amacachi · 23-09-2010 5:46pm

Biggins wrote: »

Aaa... The Sun. Always so accurate.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/sep/23/gay-bisexual-population-uk How about the Guardian?

KeithM89_old · 23-09-2010 5:47pm

How about wiki:
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_many_gay_people_are_in_england

amacachi · 23-09-2010 5:48pm

KeithM89 wrote: »

How about wiki:
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_many_gay_people_are_in_england

Yeah, it seems to be statistically sound and well referenced.

Donkey Oaty · 23-09-2010 5:49pm

Biggins wrote: »

Aaa... The Sun. Always so accurate.

The BBC report:

Almost three-quarters of a million UK adults say they are gay, lesbian or bisexual - equivalent to 1.5% of the population, a survey suggests.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) says 480,000 (1%) consider themselves gay or lesbian, and 245,000 (0.5%) bisexual.
The ONS received 450,000 responses in its new Integrated Household Survey.
The survey provides the biggest pool of social data in the UK after the Census, ONS says.
London had the highest percentage of those polled who identified as gay, Lesbian or bisexual and Northern Ireland lowest.
Testing phase
People aged 16 and over were questioned about their self-perceived sexual identity, and asked to respond with one of four options: heterosexual/straight, gay/lesbian, bisexual or other.
The data showed that 95% said they were heterosexual, 1% gay or lesbian, 0.5% bisexual, 0.5% other, and the remaining 3% either did not know or did not answer.
The survey is based on questions from six current household surveys. The sexual identity question was tested on a number of ONS surveys in 2008 and added on the IHS in 2009.
All the survey's statistics are considered experimental, or in a testing phase, as they have not yet been assessed by the UK Statistics Authority.
The gay equality charity Stonewall welcomed the release of the figures but suggested the real figure for people who were gay, lesbian or bisexual could be higher.
Chief Executive Ben Summerskill said: "This is is the first time that people were asked and data collection happened on doorsteps or over the phone, which may deter people from giving accurate responses - particularly if someone isn't openly gay at home."
Stonewall worked with 600 major employers and their experience had shown that these statistics increased when people were regularly asked about sexual orientation as part of general monitoring information.
"We'd expect to see these figures increase over time as people's confidence in the survey grows and sexual orientation becomes a routine part of data collection," he said.

MrStuffins · 23-09-2010 5:50pm

Am i right in thinking that the worldwide average is around 2%?

Rented Mule · 23-09-2010 5:50pm

Taking a page out of Iran's book ?

DB10 · 23-09-2010 5:50pm

What a ****ed up country. Or monarch whatever.

Lets hope we never get as bad as there.

Biggins · 23-09-2010 5:50pm

amacachi wrote: »

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/sep/23/gay-bisexual-population-uk How about the Guardian?

Better, much better.

I read somewhere years ago that supposedly one in ten is gay on average.
No idea if that is true or not, as do I know not if the Guardians figures are actually accurate given that many don't want to come out of the closet for varied reasons - even to an innocent questionnaire asker.

Be it one in ten or a hundred, its not going to effect me. They might as well be quoting stats on the bet question "Is there a sane brain in Jackie Healy Rea!"

Mr Benevolent · 23-09-2010 5:51pm

It's probably more like 5%.

amacachi · 23-09-2010 5:51pm

MrStuffins wrote: »

Am i right in thinking that the worldwide average is around 2%?

God knows, depending on the agenda of different organisations as to what answer you'll get, judging from people appearing on Channel 4 about 60% of Irish men are gay, and I've read that 1/6 of Australians aren't straight.

Rented Mule · 23-09-2010 5:52pm

MrStuffins wrote: »

Am i right in thinking that the worldwide average is around 2%?

Open or closeted ?

Mr Benevolent · 23-09-2010 5:52pm

amacachi wrote: »

I've read that 1/6 of Australians aren't straight.

You mean they're in prison? Hohoho.

amacachi · 23-09-2010 5:53pm

Biggins wrote: »

Better, much better.

I read somewhere years ago that supposedly one in ten is gay on average.
No idea if that is true or not, as do I know not if the Guardians figures are actually accurate given that many don't want to come out of the closet for varied reasons - even to an innocent questionnaire asker.

Be it one in ten or a hundred, its not going to effect me. They might as well be quoting stats on the bet question "Is there a sane brain in Jackie Healy Rea!"

They're numbers from an ONS survey of hundreds of thousands of people. Some people who don't like the result will point out much smaller surveys done by interest groups showing results that suit their perspective.

amacachi · 23-09-2010 5:54pm

Confab wrote: »

You mean they're in prison? Hohoho.

Australians? I don't think they like being reminded of why they're there.

MrStuffins · 23-09-2010 5:54pm

Rented Mule wrote: »

Open or closeted ?

I'm not sure.

But 2% would seem like a very reasonable number to me.

I reckon out of every 100 people i know, 2 of them are gay!

Biggins · 23-09-2010 5:55pm

amacachi wrote: »

They're numbers from an ONS survey of hundreds of thousands of people. Some people who don't like the result will point out much smaller surveys done by interest groups showing results that suit their perspective.

True, true...
Who knows the real accurate figure - and should we be really be asking about it?
I'm not bothered if its one in ten or a hundred.

Ronin247 · 23-09-2010 6:04pm

Them damn gheys are breeding quicker than us normal folks though so the percentage is rising all the time. People need to be wary.

me_right_one · 23-09-2010 6:10pm

1 in 100 is 1 too many!

Biggins · 23-09-2010 6:11pm

me_right_one wrote: »

1 in 100 is 1 too many!

Get back under your bridge you.

Wompa1 · 23-09-2010 6:13pm

I'd say that number is too low. It's a pretty conclusive study and the fact they had the second most samples after the census could mean the gay men that didn't answer honestly may have just screwed themselves over. If the budget is currently aimed at 7%...I'd expect big reductions, wonder what the figure would be like here.

There are a good few researches involving gay men in Ireland, hopefully the gay people here are more open to discussion here otherwise they may suffer the same fate

witnessmenow · 23-09-2010 6:16pm

Who cares? Is there qouta they are missing or something?

Donkey Oaty · 23-09-2010 6:20pm

witnessmenow wrote: »

Who cares? Is there qouta they are missing or something?

There are already calls for funding for gay groups to be cut as a direct result of this survey, so it's not purely an academic question.

Mr Benevolent · 23-09-2010 6:40pm

Wompa1 wrote: »

If the budget is currently aimed at 7%...I'd expect big reductions, wonder what the figure would be like here.

You mean we can reduce the number of gay people just by leaning on Brian Lenihan? Now that's progress.

Chuchoter · 23-09-2010 6:50pm

1 in 10 was never right, I don't know why people chose that number. It comes from Kinsey's studies, which took place in prisons, at a time when it was illegal to be caught in a gay bar etc. I think I would have to see the survey, if they are just asking are you gay then people who are in semi-denial are going to say no. If they use Kinsey's scale of 1-6 they would get a more accurate results. The general consensus is about 6% overall (thats what you get in the most liberal, and therefore most honest about sexuality, like Sweden).

1% is infinitesimally small. If its 1%, then there are only 10,000 gay people in Dublin, but 20,000 people were at pride this year, the vast majority gay and from Dublin, and still only representing maybe one third to a half of the entire community (includes business people, doctors,solicitors, young people just generally people who wouldn't want to advertise they are gay).