The 2021 census results for the first time paint LGBTQ people on the national canvas. Just over 3% of the population of English and Welsh citizens have declared themselves not to be heterosexual, a similar proportion to that estimated by the Office for National Statistics, which suggests a doubling in number since 2014. That isn’t, of course, because homophobic fantasies have been realised – that, if permissible, homosexuality will spread like an infection – but because increased social acceptance has allowed LGBTQ people to realise their authentic selves.
The fluidity of sexuality is observable in the results: there are nearly as many bisexual and pansexual people as there are gay or lesbian. This justifies the complaints of campaigners about a phenomenon called “bi-erasure”: where bisexual people are often left out of conversations around queerness. Bi people face prejudice not just from straight citizens, but from gay and lesbian people, too: bi men are often treated as gay but in denial; bi women face widespread sexual objectification; and all are portrayed as sexually rapacious or tourists who don’t belong anywhere.
