There are total of 56 Queer MPs in the House of Commons with three more MPs coming out as lesbian, gay, bisexual, pansexual or queer.
The Labour MPs 24-year-old Nadia Whittome (Nottingham East), 28-year-old Charlotte Nichols (Warrington North) and 30-year-old Olivia Blake (Sheffield Hallam) came out as queer and bisexual.
The average age of an MP is 52 years but that of a queer MP is 45. Today, nine per cent of the 650 MPs identify as LGB+ but a remarkable 21 per cent of the 130 MPs aged 40 or younger say they are gay, lesbian, bisexual, pansexual or queer. When it comes to the 20-somethings who were elected in the general election of 2019 the proportion is one-third.
In contrast, only five per cent of MPs over 50 identify as queer. An Ipsos Mori poll found that eight per cent of UK citizens 18 and above said they were only attracted to the same sex (gay or lesbian), three per cent said they were mostly attracted to the same sex, while four per cent were equally attracted to both sexes. Another eight per cent said they were mostly attracted to the opposite sex but not uniformly. In sum at least 15 per cent of Britons identify as lesbian, gay or bisexual, alongside another eight per cent who, in theory, could because they acknowledge their own same-sex attractions.
There is no clear data or statistic which notes the percentage of British Asians who identify themselves as members of the LGBT+ community. But there continues to be stigma and prejudiced associated around the concept especially among South Asian families. With young MPs such as Nadia Whittome identifying themselves as Queer, the narrative is expected to change.
