About nine per cent of adults in 30 countries identify as LGBTQ, survey says

The rainbow flag flies over city hall in Montreal, Friday, February 7, 2014, (Photo: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes)

About nine per cent of adults across 30 countries around the world identify as LGBTQ, according to a new Ipsos poll.

The survey released Thursday indicates Millennials and Gen Zers are more likely to identify as queer, bisexual, pansexual, omnisexual, or asexual than older generations.

Respondents included more than 22,514 adults under the age of 75 in 30 countries who answered the survey online between Feb. 17 and March 3.

Nicolas Boyon, senior vice president of research and communications at Ipsos, told CNN the survey shows there are commonalities across countries, including widespread respect for LGBTQ+ rights because more people have interactions with them.

“Globally, we see an increase compared to two years ago in the proportion of people who have a relative or a friend or a coworker, who is either gay or lesbian, or bisexual or trans or non-binary,” Boyon said.

Among the countries surveyed, the survey shows more than half of respondents said they support same-sex marriage where it is legal.

In 30 countries, about 56 per cent said same-sex couples should be allowed to marry legally while 16 per cent say they should be allowed to obtain some legal recognition, but not to marry. Women are also significantly more likely than men to support same-sex marriage, the survey said.

The majority of respondents in 26 countries said same-sex couples are as likely to raise children successfully as other parents, according to the survey.

Boyon told CNN he was surprised there was more support for transgender people in countries like Thailand, Italy, and Spain compared with the United States, Eastern Europe, and Great Britain.

“In the US, we see generally less support for a variety of protections or measures than we see in many other countries. For example, allowing people to use public facilities according to the gender they identify with. There is also less support for the health insurance to cover the costs of transition the same way as other medical procedures,” Boyon said.