The number of LGB+ and trans people in Scotland revealed for the first time

The number of Scots coming out as LGB+ or trans has been revealed for the first time as part of the 2022 census.

Just under 184,000 Scots aged 16 and over identify as LGB+, while almost 20,000 identify as trans or have a trans history, according to newly-released Scottish Census figures – although a large generational gap has opened.

The data belies a shift in social attitudes towards sexuality and gender, but only among younger people. Older groups have much smaller numbers of people identifying as either LGB+ or trans, despite Scotland having an ageing population, the Census data has shown.

Younger Scots are much more likely to identify as transgender than their older counterparts

This presents two distinct possibilities – either far fewer older people are homosexual, lesbian, bisexual, or trans, or social attitudes within their communities and social groups are drastically different.

Ipsos polling in 2020 revealed support for transgender rights differs significantly with age. More than half of people aged 18-24 (56 per cent) said transgender rights had not gone far enough, compared with 39 per cent of people aged 25-40, 33 per cent of those aged 41 to 54 and just one in five (20 per cent) of Baby Boomers.

In addition, half of Gen Z (aged 18-24) and Millennials (25-40) support transgender people using public facilities that match their gender identity compared with a third of people aged 41 to 54 (35 per cent) and just a quarter of Baby Boomers (26 per cent). However, attitudes appear to be changing slowly.

Although the 2022 Scottish census was the first to include voluntary questions about respondents’ sexuality and whether they identified as trans or had a trans history, previous UK-wide surveys have attempted to provide a snapshot.

The UK government 2021 Census found the percentage of people identifying as homosexual or bisexual has increased since 2017, by 38 per cent and 87 per cent respectively. Meanwhile, research from University College London, which examined UK GP records, found the number of people identifying as trans had increased from about one in 15,000 in 2000, to just over one in 2,500 in 2018.

The recent data from Scotland’s 2022 census would put this figure at around one in 225 people.

A regional breakdown shows Dundee City Council area had the highest proportion of people identifying as trans or having a trans history (0.91 per cent), followed by the City of Edinburgh and Glasgow City (both 0.77 per cent).

Meanwhile, the City of Edinburgh had the highest proportion of people identifying as LGB+ (7.6 per cent), with Glasgow City second (7.1 per cent) and Dundee City third (6.6 per cent).These are large student areas and would fit the generational breakdown of social attitudes.

Director of census statistics Jon Wroth-Smith said: “This is the first time Scotland’s Census has ever collected data on trans status or history and sexual orientation. We can now say that almost 20,000 people aged 16 and over in Scotland identified as being trans or having a trans history, and almost 184,000 people aged 16 and over identified as LGB+.

“These numbers will help charities, local authorities, businesses and government plan services to improve the lives of those living and working in Scotland as well as providing important information for effective equality monitoring.”

Of the 183,869 Scots who identified as LGB+, the census found 80,260 (43.6 per cent) identified as bisexual and 80,100 (43.6 per cent) identified as gay or lesbian.

The results are also broken down by age group, with the results showing that of those who identified as bisexual, almost half (46.6 per cent) were aged 16 to 24 and around a third (32 per cent) were aged 25 to 34.

Of those who identified as gay or lesbian, 23.1 per cent were aged 16 to 24, while a further 28.6 per cent were aged 25 to 34, meaning that just under half were aged 35 and older.

Meanwhile, of the 19,990 Scots who identified as trans or have a trans history, 46.1 per cent were aged between 16 and 24, and 26 per cent were aged between 25 and 34, meaning that less than a third were aged 35 and older.

The voluntary question in the 2022 census about sexual orientation was: “Which of the following best describes your sexual orientation?”.

People were asked to tick “straight/heterosexual”, “gay or lesbian”, “bisexual” or “other sexual orientation”, with those who ticked the latter being asked to described their sexual orientation.

Meanwhile, the voluntary question about whether someone identified as trans or had a trans history was: “Do you consider yourself to be trans, or have a trans history?”. People were asked to tick “no” or “yes”, with people who ticked “yes” being asked to describe their trans status – for example, non-binary, trans man, trans woman.

Dr Kevin Guyan, a researcher of identity data and Chancellor's Fellow at the University of Edinburgh, told the BBC: “The census is often seen as the ‘gold standard’ of data collection exercises, that high-level count of everyone in a country.

“Adding these new questions, voluntary questions, should create that more comprehensive picture of who lives and works in Scotland."

The research added: “I was keen to get people involved in the count – in terms of presenting an opportunity for people to see themselves recognised in this national exercise. But what’s really important is that the Scottish government use this data meaningfully.

"There’s no point gathering more and more data about LGBTQ communities if it isn’t used effectively to improve services and improve people’s lives.”

These figures are the third of seven reports on different topics from the census to be released over the next few months. Future topics include housing, education and health.