LGBT young people

How many people are LGBT?

The simple answer is that we don’t know. A UK Government estimate put the total number of gay and lesbian people in the UK at between 5 and 7% of the total adult population, or around 3.3 million people, but because many LGBT people feel it necessary to conceal their sexual orientations the actual number is likely to be higher.

In a class of 20 young people then, one or two potentially could be LGBT. In a school of 800 young people, over 50 could identify as LGBT. When all is said and done, every teacher will teach young people who identify as LGBT.

Can you tell that someone is LGBT?

No. There are LGBT young people in every school and, as not everyone conforms to stereotypes, you cannot always tell who they are. Sometimes, based on stereotypes, it may seem easy to identify young people who are LGBT – an effeminate boy maybe, or a young person who dresses or speaks in a way that is ‘typically gay’. These young people may or may not be LGBT and it is important not to make assumptions. Every young person, no matter how they present, has a right to safety and no one brings homophobic bullying on themselves.

Many young people deal with feeling different by conforming and assimilating to be as much like other young people as possible. These young people may be facing exactly the same issues as all other LGBT young people and it will be impossible to tell. The only assumption to make is that any young person in the school could be LGBT. You may never know and you may never support them directly: challenging homophobia as widely and generally as possible means that these young people and all young people will still benefit from these messages.

Do LGBT young people have many LGBT role models?

No, not that many. The visibility of LGBT people in the media and public life has grown in recent years and most people could name some out and proud LGBT people. Although their visibility is hugely positive for young people, these people are mainly from the entertainment industry and there are many other professions in which LGBT people appear to be absent. One of the most obvious examples is in sport:

"Football, it seems, is one of the last professional environments where you can’t be out and proud. In every other entertainment industry we have gay stars. Why should football be different? Are football fans really so incapable of watching a gay player without abusing him?" (David James, Portsmouth goalkeeper, 2007)

LGBT role models from a range of backgrounds, a range of professions and with a range of achievements remain limited for young people.