LGBT+ – What and how many?
KEY FIGURES
Sexual orientation
Around 6.5 % identify as homosexual, bisexual or asexual or have a different sexual orientation.
Source: Danish Institute for Human Rights’ own calculations based on SHILD (2020).
Gender identity
0,5 - 1,4 % identify as transgender or nonbinary.
Source: Danish Institute for Human Rights’ own calculations based on SHILD (2020) and Frisch et al. (2019).
Intersex
1,7 % are born with variations in sex characteristics.
Intersex covers variations in sexual anatomy, reproductive organs, hormonal patterns and/or chromosomal patterns) that do not fit typical binary notions of male or female bodies. Source: Blackless et al. (2000).
Editing was completed September 2023
LGBT+ is an abbreviation of homosexual, bisexual and transgender persons. The + indicates that the abbreviation also includes other groups such as nonbinary, intersex, queer and asexual persons. LGBT+ thus encompasses sexual orientation as well as gender identity.
In Denmark, the LGBT+ community is a rather larger minority at 8 % of the population, which means that 1 in 13 or around 275,000 individuals aged 16-64 years identify as belonging to the LGBT+ community (based on population figures for 2020 from Statistics Denmark). This exceeds the number of people living in the third largest municipality in the country (Aalborg) and corresponds to the total population of the 17 smallest municipalities in the country. An almost equal number of men and women identify as LGBT+ persons.
The share of LGBT+ persons in the Danish population is slightly higher than in other countries.
A large minority
A total of approx. 6.5 % of the population identify as homosexual, bisexual or asexual or have a different sexual orientation. The group contains an equal number of men and women. There is a slight overrepresentation of women in the group of persons who identify as bisexual and a slight overrepresentation of men in the group of persons who identify as homosexual.
Young people are overrepresented in the group of persons who identify as LGBT+. Read more here: LGBT+ – Who and where?
Some people experience no or a low level of sexual attraction. People who identify as asexual do not necessarily lead a celibate life. Some consider asexuality a sexual orientation; others consider it a spectrum.
International surveys suggest that up to 1 % of the population are asexual. Because it is such a small, invisible group, there are no Danish surveys of the living conditions of asexual persons. Therefore, the LGBT+ Barometer does not contain figures for asexual persons as a separate group.
Sexual orientation can both be a matter of identity, experience and/or attraction.
Even though just as many men and women identify as either homosexual, bisexual or asexual, more women than men report being attracted to or having had sexual relations with persons of the same sex.
For example, 1 in 4 women and 1 in 8 men to some extent feel attracted to persons of the same sex. Moreover, the share of persons who have had sexual relations with persons of the same sex exceeds the share of persons who identify as homosexual or bisexual. 4.9 % of women identify as homosexual or bisexual, while 8 % have had sexual relations with another woman. Therefore, some surveys distinguish between women who identify as homosexual and women who have sex with other women (WSW). The abbreviation MSM refers to men who engage in sexual activities with other men.
The figures show that sexual orientation is not one thing, but can concern a person’s identity, experience and attraction, which may change through life. The majority of persons who identify as homosexual or bisexual started to think about their sexual orientation in childhood or youth.
Sexual orientation
Cisgender persons are persons whose gender identity matches the gender they were assigned at birth. Transgender persons are persons whose gender identity or gender expression to some extent does not correspond to the gender they were assigned at birth. A transgender woman is a person with a female gender identity who was assigned a male gender at birth, and a transgender man is a person with a male gender identity who was assigned a female gender at birth.
Some have a nonbinary gender identity, which means that they neither identify as a man nor as a woman, but as something that is not limited to either of the two. Nonbinary is an umbrella term for persons who neither identify as a man nor as a woman. Thus, they do not identity with the gender they were assigned at birth. The gender identity of nonbinary persons may be a combination of the male and female sex or something else entirely. It depends on the individual person. Common to nonbinary persons is that their gender identity is nonbinary.
Persons whose gender identity does not match the gender they were assigned at birth may need to affirm their identified gender. Some transgender persons choose to change their name and civil registration number. From 1 September 2014 to 31 August 2022, 1,920 persons were assigned a new civil registration number. Some choose to have gender affirming treatment, for instance hormone therapy or surgery. Others choose to adopt an androgynous expression that does not necessarily match traditional male or female categories. Read more here: Gender-affirming care.
Surveys suggest that transgender persons – like other LGBT+ persons – think about their gender identity as early as childhood and youth but do speak about it to friends or family until much later.
A relatively small share of the population identifies as transgender or nonbinary. Nevertheless, in Denmark, as many as every sixth heterosexual or cisgender person has had difficulties living up to traditional gender norms while growing up. Especially persons who identify as homosexual, nonbinary or transgender have experienced a lack of gender conformity.
The figures show that LGBT+ persons especially struggle with gender conformity – that is, the ability to live up to traditional gender norms. Homosexuals often report feeling unable to meet other people’s expectations.
Gender identity and gender expression
Intersex persons are persons who have been born with physical sex characteristics – that is, sexual anatomy, reproductive organs and/or chromosome patterns – that do not conform to medical definitions of male or female. This may be evident at birth or be revealed later in life.
An international scientific article suggests that as many as 2 % of each birth cohort are born with variations in sex characteristics. In a Danish survey, around 1 % of the Danish population report having been born with variations in sex characteristics. The figure depends on the conditions included.
A qualitative survey from 2021 of experiences with living with variations in sex characteristics finds that far from everyone who is born with these variations identify as intersex or LGBT+. Some consider their variations a chronic condition.. For some, the variation in chromosome structure has little impact on their lives, whereas others find that it has a great impact on their lives and requires treatment. Some are unaware that they have been born with variations in sex characteristics, as it can be difficult to diagnose until later in life, and some intersex persons report not having been informed of their intersex status.
In Denmark and globally, medical organisations and organisations promoting the rights of intersex persons disagree on a definition of the group. The Danish Health Authority uses the definition ”disorders or differences in sex characteristics” (DSD), which has been criticised for being too narrow and for suggesting that intersex is a disease. Read more about treatment for intersex here: Gender-affirming care
Some of the most frequently occurring intersex variations are:
- Klinefelter syndrome
- Turner syndrome
- Adrenogenital syndrome
- Androgen insensitivity syndrome
- Morris syndrome
- Mayer-Rokitansky-Küster-Hauser syndrome
- 45X/46XY / X0/XY, X/XY mosaicism
Intersex persons have the same variations in sexual orientation and gender identity as the rest of the population. However, some feel limited, experience discrimination or report poor well-being.
Intersex
- Blackless, M., Charuvastra, A., Derryck, A., Fausto-Sterling, A., Lauzanne, K.& Lee, E. (2000), How sexually dimorphic are we? Review and synthesis. Am. J. Hum. Biol., 12: 151-166.
- Greve, J., Østergaard, S. V., Andersen, M. & Thomsen, M. K. (2022). Kortlægning af homo- og biseksuelles samt transpersoners levevilkår og samfundsdeltagelse. VIVE - Det Nationale Forsknings- og Analysecenter for Velfærd.
- Frisch, M., Moseholm, E., Andersson, M., Andresen, J. B. & Graugaard, C. (2019). Sex i Danmark - Nøgletal fra Projekt SEXUS 2017-2018. Statens Serum Institut & Aalborg Universitet.