Lesbian Visibility Week

Note on terminology

As debates in this area are often polarised, the language and terminology associated with it is sensitive, contested and changing. We have, where possible, used the terminology of the source we have quoted or referred to. LGBT refers to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender. Where used with a “+” (as in LGBT+), the + refers to other minority sexualities and gender identities, such as queer, intersex, non-binary, asexual, pansexual and others. You may sometimes see LGBTQIA+ written, which stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, queer/questioning, ace/asexual and others.

Some of the statistics in this paper use the terms ‘LGB’ (specifically referring to respondents who identify as lesbian, gay or bisexual) and ‘LGB+’ (referring to respondents who identify as any sexual orientation other than straight or heterosexual). This is because the data collected just covers sexual orientation, not gender identity.

 

Background

Lesbian Visibility Week takes place this year during the week beginning Monday 22 April 2024. The theme for this year is described in the #LVW25 Activation Pack (PDF) as “celebrating rainbow families, a global campaign celebrating all the beauty our community brings to family life”. The organisers say the following regarding the 2025 theme:

Throughout #LVW25 we will be uplifting rainbow families in all their diversity and spotlighting the challenges our community still faces when it comes to our family life. From nurturing chosen family, to family formation and raising LGBTQIA+ children, Lesbian Visibility Week 2025 will be a platform where LGBTQIA+ women and non-binary people’s families can be seen, understood and truly appreciated.

At a time when progress on LGBTQIA+ rights globally feels fragile and rainbow families are under attack, we want to lift our voices up in joy and love: letting the world know that our families have always been here and will always be here.

Lesbian Visibility Week originated in 1990 in West Hollywood, through the efforts of the West Hollywood Lesbian Visibility Committee, founded in 1989. The event began as a programme of cultural activities and workshops aimed at “raising awareness around lesbian issues and identities”. The event was co-funded by the City of West Hollywood, partly because there was “a lot of attention for the gay male community, but not as much for lesbians”.

The modern iteration of Lesbian Visibility Week was founded in 2020 by Linda Riley, publisher of the UK-based magazine Diva, which describes itself as “the world’s leading magazine for LGBTQIA women and non-binary people”. The week built on the foundations of Lesbian Visibility Day, celebrated annually on 26 April.

An Early Day Motion was tabled in 2024 by Kate Osborne MP to recognise last year’s fifth annual Lesbian Visibility Week, stating that:

That this House congratulates Lesbian Visibility Week on their fifth anniversary; notes that the theme for this week is unified not uniform to celebrate the diversity of LGBTQ+ women everywhere; welcomes the representation and acknowledgement of incredible LGBTQ women that Lesbian Visibility Week brings; acknowledges that there are still unique barriers that lesbians face in day to day life that must be urgently addressed; and further notes that this week has never been more important as hate crime abuse continues to rise.

Some commentators have highlighted the importance of a week that celebrates lesbians specifically, rather than under the broader umbrellas of LGBT History Month or Pride Month. This is partly because Lesbian Visibility Week can highlight particular issues faced by lesbians and because not all lesbians feel welcome at or represented by events focused on broader “LGBT+ umbrella communities”.

 

Statistics

The population of lesbian and LGB+ women

UK-wide estimates for 2023

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) publishes estimates of the UK population broken down by sexual orientation. The latest estimates are for 2023.

The statistics are based on responses to the Annual Population Survey (APS). Respondents aged 16 and over are asked about their sexual orientation, with response options provided for ‘Straight/Heterosexual’, ‘Gay or Lesbian’, ‘Bisexual’, or ‘Other’. The APS does not provide an option for ‘lesbian’ as a distinct category.

In 2023, around 938,000 women identified as lesbian, gay or bisexual (LGB) (3.4% of all women, compared with 4.2% of all men). Around 341,000 women identified as gay or lesbian (1.2%), while around 596,000 identified as bisexual (2.2%).

The ONS reports that the total population of LGB people is growing: around 2.1 million people in the UK identified as LGB in 2023, up from 1.2 million in 2018.

Census data

Censuses were carried out in 2021 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and in 2022 in Scotland. For the first time, these censuses asked respondents about their sexual orientation.

Respondents aged 16 or over were asked: ‘Which of the following best describes your sexual orientation?’. Options were provided for ‘Straight/Heterosexual’, ‘Gay or Lesbian’, ‘Bisexual’, or ‘Other’ (with the option to write in a response). Responding to the question was voluntary.

England and Wales, 2021

Around 288,000 women said they identified as gay or lesbian on the 2021 census in England and Wales. This is around 1.2% of all women aged 16 and over.

Around 830,000 women identified with any sexual orientation other than ‘Straight/Heterosexual’ (including bisexual and other sexual orientations – we refer to this group as LGB+ in this briefing). This is around 3.3% of all women aged 16 or over.

Northern Ireland, 2021

Statistics for the census in Northern Ireland are published separately by the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA).

According to published data from NISRA, around 16,200 women in Northern Ireland identified with an LGB+ sexual orientation (around 2.1% of all women aged 16 or over).

NISRA doesn’t publish statistics on women identifying with the specific ‘Gay or Lesbian’ category.

Scotland, 2022

Scotland’s census was delayed by a year due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Census statistics on sexual orientation were published in December 2024.

At the March 2022 census, around 107,700 women identified with an LGB+ sexual orientation (4.5% of all women aged 16 and over). Within this total, around 33,800 identified as gay or lesbian (1.4%).

 

Population characteristics

The ONS has published a statistical release on the characteristics of people with different sexual orientations in England and Wales, using 2021 census data. Some key findings are explored below.

Age

The chart below shows the age distribution of women identifying as gay or lesbian, compared with those identifying with all LGB+ sexual orientations, and heterosexual women.

Women identifying as gay or lesbian tended to be younger than women identifying as straight or heterosexual. Around half of women identifying as gay or lesbian were aged under 35, compared with around a quarter of women identifying as straight or heterosexual.

The wider group of women identifying with all LGB+ sexual orientations tended to be younger still. Around two-thirds of these women were aged under 35.

The chart below shows the age breakdown of women identifying with different sexual orientations.

Source: ONS, Sexual orientation (9 categories) by age and sex, table 1, 1 February 2023

Marital status and families

18% of LGB+ women were married or in a civil partnership, compared with 24% of gay or lesbian women and 43% of all women. 72% of LGB+ women and 65% of gay or lesbian women had never been married or civil partnered, compared with 35% of all women in England and Wales. This difference is likely to be partly down to the younger age profile of LGB+ women.

The ONS has published separate analysis of same-sex families, which found that there were around 113,000 female same-sex families in England and Wales in March 2021, up from around 89,000 in March 2011.

The majority of female same-sex families had no children (76%). Around 22,400 (20%) had at least one dependent child, and around 4,500 (4%) had only non-dependent children.

Disability

Despite having a younger age profile, women identifying as gay or lesbian were more likely to be disabled than average.

Around 27% of women identifying as gay or lesbian said that they had a physical or mental health condition that limited their day-to-day health activities a little or a lot, compared with 22% of all women.

ONS analysis has found that this pattern is also true of LGB+ people in general. Around 29% of people identifying with an LGB+ sexual orientation were disabled, compared with 20% of the overall population.

Economic activity

Around 62% of LGB+ women and 68% of women identifying as gay or lesbian were economically active, compared with 53% of all women. This figure includes students. This difference is likely to be related to the younger age profile of LGB+ women.

Common reasons for economic inactivity were being a student (32% of gay or lesbian women and 54% of LGB+ women) and being long-term sick or disabled (24% of gay or lesbian women and 22% of LGB+ women).

By contrast, amongst all women the most common reasons were being retired (53%), looking after the home or family (18%) and being a student (13%).

 

Access to fertility care

The number of patients in female same-sex relationships accessing in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) rose from 66,715 in 2012 to 95,910 in 2022, an increase of around 23%. Over the same period, the number of IVF cycles completed by patients in female same-sex relationships has increased by 44%, from 66,715 to 95,910. This trend can be seen in the chart below.

Source: HFEA, Fertility treatment 2022: preliminary trends and figures

NHS funded IVF

The number of IVF cycles that were NHS funded varied by family type. In 2022, opposite-sex couples aged 18-39, were three times as likely to have NHS-funded IVF cycles (52%), compared to patients in female same-sex relationships (16%). According to the Human Fertilisation & Embryology Authority (HFEA), this is unlikely due to age, as the average age for patients in female same-sex relationships was the lowest of all family types.

The chart below shows this pattern over time.

Source, HFEA, Family formations in fertility treatment 2022

There were also substantial discrepancies in the percentage of NHS-funded IVF cycles for patients in female same-sex relationships between regions in the UK.

In 2022, Scotland had the highest percentage of NHS-funded IVF cycles at 40% for patients in female same-sex relationships and 82% for patients in opposite-sex relationships. Only 4% of IVF cycles were NHS-funded for patients in female same-sex relationships in the South East of England.

There was no correlation between the percentage of NHS-funded IVF cycles for patients in opposite-sex relationships and those in female same-sex relationships.

Regional data is presented in the chart below.

Source: HFEA, Family formations in fertility treatment 2022

For more information, see the 2022 HFEA report.

 

Fertility care for female same-sex couples

Screening for reciprocal IVF

The HFEA outlines reciprocal IVF as follows:

Reciprocal IVF (also known as ‘shared motherhood’ or ‘shared parenthood’) is where eggs are collected from one partner in a same-sex female or other LGBTQIA+ couple and fertilised with donor sperm. The resulting embryo is then transferred into the other partner’s womb, who carries the baby and gives birth.

In a debate on IVF provision on 24 October 2023, the Minister for Women’s Health, Maria Caulfield MP, announced the government’s intention to introduce statutory instruments to change the law on partner egg donation for female same-sex couples undergoing reciprocal IVF. For more information, please see the government’s press release covering the announcement.

Until the changes came into effect on 28 November 2024 (Schedule 3A of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990, paragraphs 6 and 7), it was a legal requirement that the partner providing eggs needed to have enhanced screening tests (for infectious diseases such as hepatitis B, hepatitis C, and rubella) before undergoing reciprocal IVF, often costing up to £1,000 on top of the costs of the IVF treatment. The enhanced screening is not a requirement for heterosexual couples undertaking IVF treatment, and introduced a further financial barrier for female same-sex couples accessing IVF treatment.

 

Eligibility criteria for NHS IVF treatment

The government published a table in February 2024 showing data from published Integrated Care Board (ICB) commissioning policies indicating how IVF services are funded by the NHS in each area of England. This showed that most ICBs required referrals to NHS fertility treatment for female same-sex couples to follow six rounds of artificial insemination. However, policies varied across England, depending on ICB covering the area. At the time the table was published, some ICBs expected female same-sex couples to self-fund up to 12 rounds of artificial insemination. In comparison, opposite sex couples are not required to self-fund any treatments before being eligible for NHS IVF treatment.

Female same-sex couples have reported that this requirement has meant they have been ‘priced out’ of having children, with some turning to alternative and potentially dangerous routes, such as at home insemination from private donors.

As part of the Women’s Health Strategy for England published in August 2022, the government committed to removing the requirement for female same-sex couples to pay privately for artificial insemination cycles before they are eligible for NHS funded IVF treatment. The Women’s Health Strategy for England said:

We are also aware that the interpretation and implementation by the NHS of the access criteria for female same-sex couples has also been variable, placing greater financial burdens on female same-sex couples, and, in some instances, led to difficult choices about family formation. We will relieve those additional burdens, so that there is no requirement for self-funding and the NHS treatment pathway for female same-sex couples will start with 6 cycles of artificial insemination, prior to accessing IVF services if necessary.

The government had said the removal of requirements for self-financed artificial insemination for female same-sex couples to access fertility treatment was expected to take effect “during 2023”. However, when asked about this in the Westminster Hall debate on IVF provision on 24 October 2023, the Minister acknowledged the implementation of this policy was “taking a little while to be rolled out”.

During last year’s debate for Lesbian Visibility Week, the government reaffirmed its commitment to the removal of the self-funding requirement:

Colleagues in the Department of Health and Social Care have begun work to improve information provision on fertility and fertility treatments, including on the NHS website, and have launched a tool that provides greater transparency on local provision of IVF. Our initial priority is to remove the requirement for female same-sex couples to self-fund six rounds of artificial insemination before being able to access NHS-funded treatments. My colleagues in DHSC are working with NHS England to take that forward, along with other commitments that are deliverable through the integrated care boards.

The new government has since confirmed its commitment to equal access to fertility treatment, stating in response to a PQ on 20 March 2025:

We want everyone to have fair access to high quality care, which is respectful, inclusive and supports choice, control, and independence.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) sets out clinical guidelines for the provision of IVF services. NICE is currently reviewing its guidelines. In the light of broader pressures on the NHS and on-going changes within NHS England, the Department of Health and Social Care is looking again at achievable ambitions to improve access to services and fairness for all affected couples.

 

NICE fertility guidelines review

The current Fertility problems: assessment and treatment clinical guidelines published by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) were last updated in September 2017. The current guidelines state that 3 full cycles of NHS IVF should be offered for women under 40 who have not conceived after 12 cycles of artificial insemination (of which 6 or more must have been intrauterine insemination).

In February 2022, NICE began a review of fertility assessment and treatment guidelines. This is still ongoing, and the date for publication has not been confirmed, however in an answer to a PQ on 20 November 2024, the government said that it expects the results of the review to be published in 2025:

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence is currently reviewing the fertility guideline and will consider whether the current recommendations for access to National Health Service-funded treatment are still appropriate. We expect this review to be published in 2025. NHS England will be providing advice on this issue, and the Government will be considering future policy options soon.

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