LGB+ people in England and Wales much' more likely to die by suicide than straight people

"LGB+ people are much more likely to die by taking their own lives, drug overdoses and alcohol-related disease than their straight counterparts, the first official figures of their kind show. The 2021 census in England and Wales asked people aged 16 and above about their sexual orientation for the first time. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has now analysed differences in causes of mortality from March 2021 to November 2024."

"The ONS research uses the acronym LGB+ rather than LGBTQ+. It found that people who identified as gay, lesbian, bisexual or other sexual orientation had 1.3 times the risk of dying than those identifying as straight or heterosexual. The age-standardised rate of death from any cause was 982.8 for each 100,000 people for LGB+ people compared with 752.6 for each 100,000 people for straight or heterosexual people, the ONS said."

"While the leading cause of death for all people was coronary heart disease, the second most common cause of death for LGB+ people was taking their own lives, accounting for 7.1% of all deaths. Younger LGB+ people were nearly twice as likely to take their own lives than straight people, the analysis shows. Nearly half (45.3%) of deaths among LGB+ 16- to 24-year-olds and more than one quarter (29.6%) of deaths among LGB+ 25-34-year-olds were caused by people taking their own lives."

People identifying as gay, lesbian, bisexual or other sexual orientations experienced higher mortality rates than those identifying as straight or heterosexual between March 2021 and November 2024. The age-standardised all-cause death rate was 982.8 per 100,000 for LGB+ people versus 752.6 per 100,000 for straight people, corresponding to a 1.3-fold higher risk. Coronary heart disease remained the leading cause of death overall, but suicide accounted for 7.1% of deaths among LGB+ people and was the second most common cause. Drug poisoning deaths were 2.8 times higher and alcohol-related deaths 1.8 times higher among LGB+ people. Young LGB+ people faced particularly high suicide proportions.

Read at www.theguardian.com