Only one in a hundred admit to the government that they are gay

By Staff Writer, PinkNews.co.uk • January 27, 2008 - 0:01

The Office of National Statistics asked 4000 people their sexuality

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Only one in 100 people have described themselves as gay in a government survey into British sexuality.

A further one in 100 describe themselves as bisexual, 0.6 per cent said "other" and three per cent say they were not willing to declare their sexuality to the Office of National Statistics (ONS).

Some failed to to answer the question properly; responses included: "female", "normal", "not active" and "I am OK with my sexuality".

The Office of National Statistics asked 4,000 people but admitted that the results of the survey were: "not a reliable estimate" of the gay population.

Amanda Wilmot of the ONS told the Sunday Telegraph: "Human beings do not always conform to a common standard.

"Those who are abstaining, or ignoring desires, or indeed those who are undecided or not yet 'out', may not be able to classify themselves at all. One's desire, behaviour and self-identification might not always match."

The government are intending to introduce an annual count once a more reliable method of measurement can be established.

However, sexuality will not be included in the next mandatory census in 2011.

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