According to a new study, Germany has the biggest LGBT population in Europe, as 7.4 per cent of Germans define themselves as LGBT.
Berlin’s Dalia Research GmbH saw through the EuroPulse research project, collating data from 10,000 respondents across 28 EU countries.
As Pink News reports, the Kinsey scale was used to highlight the spectrum of identity for the survey participants. Where 8.6 per cent of people in Europe across the study said they weren’t exclusively straight, 10.9 per cent of Germans said the same. 5.9 per cent of Europeans identified as LGBT, and 1.4 per cent as asexual.
The results also show a larger disparity with ages: 11.2 per cent of Germans surveyed that were aged between 15-29 defined as LGBT, with 5.7 per cent of 30-49 year olds.
The statistics note an increase in Germany from the last data gathered in 2000, when 1.3 per cent of men surveyed said they were gay, and 0.6 per cent of women lesbian. The numbers did not take into account transgender or bisexual people.
Though an equal marriage bill was passed in parliament last year by opposition parties, Chancellor Angela Merkel has consistently challenged any change to the laws. This is despite a majority of the public showing favour for equal marriage. LGBT rights in Germany have however been recognised as quite progressive compared to other countries in Europe: Berlin is seen as one of the most LGBT-friendly cities worldwide. Same-sex step adoption and registered partnerships are legal, and people have been able to change their legal gender since 1980, although this is only after the transitional surgery. Citizens can also choose to neither identify as male or female.
Hungary showed the lowest figures, with only 1.4 per cent identifying as LGBT. It's important however to note that people may not be in a position or an environment where they can be open about what they identify as.
