DISCOVERIES
WHY DOES RESEARCHING BISEXUALITY MATTER?
COMMENT
It’s Pride Month and the UK is aglitter with messages of love. But not all the letters of the rainbow alphabet have been able to shine…
ILLUSTRATION: SCOTT BALMER
DR JULIA SHAW
(@drjuliashaw) Julia is a psychological scientist at University College London, the author of multiple best-selling books, and the co-host of the hit podcast Bad People on BBC Sounds.
T he number of people who identify as queer in the UK Census has increased over the past few years. This trend is in particular driven by the rising number of LGBT+ identities among people aged 16 to 24 years. The most popular sexual identity within this emerging group is bisexual – the romantic and/or sexual attraction to more than one gender. Data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) shows an increase from 0.7 per cent in 2015 to 1.1 per cent in 2019. Rather than a sudden new surge of bisexual desires, increased acceptance, legal protection and visibility are likely to be the cause of this increase.