Half Of Young Adults In Great Britain Don't Identify As Straight

Vocative

 

Over half of adults aged 18-to-24 in Great Britain identify as something other than exclusively heterosexual, according to a new survey.

Market research firm YouGov polled 1,632 adults, asking respondents to report their sexual identity using the Kinsey scale—a measuring system created by noted sexologist Alfred Kinsey, where 0 is “exclusively heterosexual” and 6 is “exclusively homosexual.” It found that 28% of all participants identify as something other than straight. This jumps to 54% for those aged 18-to-24.

Overall, 72 percent identified as exclusively heterosexual and four percent said they were exclusively homosexual, compared to 46 percent and six percent, respectively, for 18-to-24 year olds. The others were scattered along the spectrum, though in all age groups bisexuals were mostly clumped around 1 on the Kinsey scale, meaning they are closer to exclusive heterosexuality. 

The figures show that sexual fluidity is more likely the younger someone is. Of respondents aged 18-to-24, 52 percent saw their sexuality as fixed (either straight or gay), with this number growing with age: 67 percent of 25-to-39 year olds, 81 percent of 40-to-59 year olds, and 89 percent of those aged 60+ 

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