Brighton has highest proportion of LGB+ Christians, census shows

Brighton is among the local areas of England with the highest proportion of people of a Christian background who identify as gay or lesbian, bisexual or another sexual orientation (LGB+), new figures show.

The data has been published as part of the latest release of information from the census, which took place in England and Wales on March 21 2021.

For the first time the census included questions on sexual orientation and gender identity, which were voluntary for all people aged 16 and over.

Some 5.9 per cent of people in Brighton and Hove who told the census they identified as Christian also said they identified as LGB+, the highest proportion anywhere in England outside the City of London (8.2 er cent), where the resident population is comparatively small.

It’s perhaps not surprising the city has the highest proportion of LGB+ Christians, as a previous census release showed Brighton and Hove has the highest overall proportion of people identifying as bisexual, pansexual, asexual and non-binary in England and Wales at 10.7 per cent.

The number of people identifying as Christian has fallen from 42.9 per cent in 2011 to just 30.9 per cent in 2021.

Oxford, Cambridge and a number of London boroughs also appear at the top of the list of LGB+ Christians, with the proportion in some areas as high as around one in 20.

The London boroughs of Tower Hamlets (5.8 per cent), Camden (4.9 per cent) and Lambeth (4.8 per cent) and Oxford and Cambridge (both 4.0 per cent), Manchester (3.5 per cent) and Blackpool (3.4 per cent) are the next highest.

The lowest proportions are all for local authorities in Essex: Castle Point (0.8 per cent), followed by Rochford, Maldon and Brentwood (all 0.9 per cent).

The figures have been published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

Previous census data on the sexual orientation of the whole population showed a similar pattern, with people identifying as LGB+ concentrated in urban areas and university towns and cities.

The latest figures also include local data for sexual orientation among other religious groups, but most of the numbers are too small for meaningful comparison.