As gay and
lesbian couples in the United Kingdom rush to register
their civil partnerships, the government has released
figures showing that 6% of the British population is
gay or lesbian. That translates into 3.6 million
people, London's Daily Telegraph reported Monday.
Meanwhile, there are an estimated 1.5 million to
2 million gay men, lesbians, and bisexuals in the
workforce of 30 million people, the newspaper reported.
The Department of Trade based both estimates on
the findings of various studies during the past 15 years.
The new data was lauded by gay rights groups.
"This is a significant moment,'' Ben Summerskill, the
chief executive of Stonewall, told the newspaper. "For
the first time the government has robustly
acknowledged the existence of a substantial number of gay
people in Britain. This is welcome and long overdue.
Historically, people have got bogged down in endless
rows about this with some of the more colorful gay
activists insisting as many as 20% of the population was
gay, while people who were opposed to gay equality,
such as Norman Tebbit, claimed it was one in 100."
The government estimates that 3.3% of gay men
and lesbians over the age of 16 will be in registered
civil partnerships, compared with around one third of
the straight population who will be married. (Advocate.com)