First Whitehall figure settles long-running debate

Denis Campbell, social affairs correspondent
Sunday December 11, 2005 The Observer

Six per cent of the population, or about 3.6 million Britons, are either gay or lesbian, the government's first attempt to quantify the homosexual population has concluded.

Whitehall officials have answered the much-debated question 'how many of us are gay?' by declaring that the true number is one in 16.66. Previous answers have ranged from one in five to as few as one in a hundred, and many people have believed the figure to be one in ten.

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Treasury actuaries came up with the estimate when analysing the financial implications of the new Civil Partnerships Act, which comes into force this month and allows same-sex partners to marry and gives them similar rights to married couples in areas such as tax, pensions and inheritance.

There are an estimated 1.5 million to two million gay men, lesbians and bisexuals in the 30 million-strong workforce, according to the Department of Trade and Industry. Given the UK population is just under 60 million, that means that the gay community has between three and four million members.

'This is a significant moment,' said Ben Summerskill, chief executive of Stonewall, the gay equality campaign group. 'For the first time the government has robustly acknowledged the existence of a substantial number of gay people in modern Britain. This is welcome and long overdue.

'Historically people have got bogged down in endless rows about this with some of the more colourful gay activists insisting as many as 20 per cent of the population was gay, while people who were opposed to gay equality, such as Norman Tebbit, claimed it was one in 100. Six per cent feels like a sensible estimate.'

Publication of the figure comes as big name companies such as Barclays bank, Hilton hotels and cosmetics giant L'Oreal join the growing rush to cash in on a gay economy which is worth tens of billions of pounds. Barclays has just received research which showed that gays and lesbians enjoy a combined annual income of £60 billion.

It has recently funded 300,000 copies of a guide to civil partnerships for same-sex couples, and in February is holding workshops at branches in Brighton, Manchester, Birmingham, London and Blackpool, where staff will guide gays and lesbians through the financial consequences of marrying - and try to attract new gay customers in the process.

Barclays spokesman Michael O'Toole admitted the bank is very keen to woo Britain's gays and lesbians by portraying itself as sympathetic to gays' desire for equality. 'We want to position ourselves as the bank of choice for Britain's gay and lesbian community,' he said.

'There's more of a push going on now to enter this market of about 2.5 million adults. It's a good time to do that because civil partnerships remove a great injustice.' Staff have been advised to make gays feel as comfortable as possible 'about their personal circumstances' if, for example, they want to discuss getting a joint mortgage. Advertisements in the gay press for the workshops will reinforce that message.

The Hilton chain is trying to entice gay couples to hold their civil partnership celebrations by offering tailor-made parties and even the chance to hold the ceremony at some hotels.

Barclays' research revealed that gay and lesbian people have greater disposable income than heterosexuals. Among the 1,000 gays who took part, men had spent on average £626 and women £519 on holidays and mini-breaks. Gay men also spent more than lesbians on clothing, £374 compared with £249, as well as furniture and fittings, where they typically spent £300 to women's £263.

That reflects the fact that the typical gay man working