Stonewall publishes first major report for almost a decade – ‘LGBTQ+ Life in the UK: 2026’
Today, Stonewall has published its first major report in nearly a decade. LGBTQ+ Life in the UK: 2026 collates responses from almost 3,500 lesbians, gay, bi, trans+ and queer people to provide a clear snapshot of LGBTQ+ experience across political, social and cultural settings. This is the first major report of its kind from Stonewall since 2018 and it captures almost a decade of change in LGBTQ+ equality.
It paints a complicated picture, revealing increased acceptance alongside significant pessimism about the future. Trans+ people report worse outcomes than the overall LGBTQ+ population across almost all metrics, with 45% of trans+ people experiencing harassment, intimidation or assault (of a potentially criminal nature) in the last year.
The key findings
- 48% say acceptance is higher than ten years ago; 24% are optimistic and 50% are pessimistic. 80% of trans+ people are pessimistic.
- Fewer than half of LGBTQ+ people would feel comfortable holding their partner’s hand in the street.
- One in four LGBTQ+ people avoid certain bars or restaurants because they don’t feel safe there. The figure is 25%, rising to 47% of trans+ people.
- Nearly one in four LGBTQ+ people change the way they dress in public for fear of discrimination or harassment. The figure is 23%, rising to 49% of trans+ people.
- One in eight LGBTQ+ people visit their family less often because they don’t feel accepted. The figure is 13%, rising to 31% of trans+ people
Download the full report
The report is comprised of six chapters which look in turn at:
- Equality – Progress, Challenges, and the State
- 48% of LGBTQ+ people believe that acceptance is higher than ten years ago – only 26% of trans+ people said the same
- 50% of LGBTQ+ people are pessimistic about the direction that LGBRQ+ equality is going in the UK, rising to 80% of trans+ people
- Belonging – Family, Friends, and Community:
- Two-thirds (67%) of LGB+ people were open about their sexual orientation to family, with 88% to friends. Half (52%) of trans+ people were open about their gender identity with family, and 85% with friends.
- Most LGB+ respondents felt accepted by family (93%) and friends (99%), but fewer trans+ people felt accepted by family (86%) and friends (95%).
- Safety – Discrimination, Crime, and Abuse
- 7% of LGBTQ+ people reported that they had ever been questioned about their sex assigned at birth when using single-sex spaces, including 41% of trans men and 32% of trans women. 11% of lesbians also reported this.
- 18% of people who experienced a potential hate incident in the last year reported it to police. Half (54%) of those who reported to police were dissatisfied with their response.
- Almost two-thirds (64%) of trans+ people had experienced indirect transphobic abuse online in the previous month.
- Health – Services, Mental Health, and Wellbeing
- 18% of LGB+ people said that healthcare staff lacked understanding of LGB+ health needs, while 39% of trans+ people experienced the same for trans health needs.
- Half (54%) of all LGBTQ+ people had ever considered suicide, and 22% had attempted suicide. This rises to 71% and 32% of trans+ people.
- Work – Inclusion, Discrimination, and Finances
- A third (30%) of LGB+ people had hidden or disguised their sexual orientation at work during the last year, while 46% of trans+ people had done so for their gender identity.
- One in ten LGBTQ+ people had experienced negative comments or conduct from colleagues (11%) and customers or clients (10%) on account of their LGBTQ+ identity in the last year.
- Future – Financial Planning, Family Formation, and Older Age Care
- Over half (55%) of LGBTQ+ people do not have confidence in being financially secure in retirement.
- A third (33%) of LGBTQ+ people have confidence that care providers would understand their needs as an LGBTQ+ person, but this is lower among trans+ people (18%).
Stonewall’s CEO Simon Blake says:
"The data in this report should be a wakeup call for all of us. While we have made real progress towards equality for LGBTQ+ people, progress is not the same as arrival. What this report overwhelmingly reveals is that action is needed – urgently – to address the intolerable situation in which trans+ people in the UK lives their lives, as well as a coordinated effort to tackle the root causes of inequality and harm for the whole lesbian, gay, bi, trans+ and queer community.
I am proud that we now have the most comprehensive picture of the experience of the LGBTQ+ community in the UK for almost a decade.
"The work that follows now is urgent: we must rebuild trust in the institutions that are meant to protect us; we must create safe and inclusive spaces for work and play; we must build understanding and tolerance into our health and education systems; and we must bring an end to the unjustified scapegoating, anger and violence being directed towards trans+ people. The progress that this report details was not won by chance: it took decades of campaigning and courage in order to make real change.
It’s time to recommit to action, to hard work, to pushing for a change so that we live in a country in which all LGBTQ+ people can thrive, and of which we can all feel proud.
"We call on the government to invest meaningfully in a new LGBTQ+ Strategy and to work with civil society, business and others to create an action plan that enables the UK to once again be a world-leader in LGBTQ+ rights."
Sandi Toksvig, who wrote the foreword for the report says:
"Equality is not only achievable but inevitable, even when progress is hard to see. But inevitable does not mean automatic. It takes work, and it takes evidence like this to show those in power exactly what needs to change. Prejudice thrives on silence and assumption. Data does not leave much room for either. We cannot allow another generation to grow up with the silence, fear and prejudice that so many of us did."
We’ve changed laws and lives before, and we’re not stopping now. Rest assured, we’ll keep campaigning until everyone, everywhere, has equal rights. Read the full report.
