Brighton and Hove, for decades England’s unofficial gay capital, can now wear the official crown. One in 10 people aged over 16 in the city identified themselves as lesbian, gay, bisexual or “other sexual orientation” in the 2021 census. It was exactly in line with the decades-old estimates based on the works of the 1940s US professor Alfred Kinsey who contended homosexuality was far more widespread than officialdom admitted.
By contrast, the district of Rochford in Essex was shown as the straightest place in England. Only 1.6% of the population there said they were LGB+, suggesting that those living in the largely rural, somewhat conservative area near Southend-on-Sea are six times less likely to be gay than those in Brighton and Hove. People in Rochford were also four times less likely to say they were transgender or non-binary than those in the East Sussex city.
