Girls are twice as likely as boys to have a friend who is gay, bisexual or transgender
A new YouGov survey of 868 children aged 8-15 shows that only two in five (37%) say they don’t know anyone closely who identifies as LGBT.
One in four (25%) children in this age group have a friend who is gay, bisexual or transgender, while one in six (17%) have a family member who identifies as such. Some 15% also know someone else closely who is part of the LGBT community. It’s rarer for 8- to 15-year-olds to have a teacher who is out, at 6%.
Girls aged 8-15 are twice as likely as boys in the same age group to have a friend who is out at 34% vs 16%. This gap only applies to friendships, as similar numbers have a family member (17% of girls aged 8-15 vs 18% of boys aged 8-15), a teacher (6% vs 6%) or someone else close to them (16% vs 15%) who identifies as LGBT.
The share of children who have a friend who is out also rises with age, increasing from 7% among those aged 8 to 45% of 15-year-olds.
The survey also found that 3% of children aged 8-15 say they have two mothers who are married to each other, while another 3% say they have two fathers who are. Respectively 11% and 6% of children in this age group also have a friend with two mums or two dads who are married.
See the full results here
