Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1514782
2 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 21 JANUARY 2024 NEWS JAMES DEBONO jdebono@mediatoday.com.mt Foreigners three times more likely to identify as LGBTIQ THE ratio of non-Maltese na- tionals who identify themselves as gay, lesbian, bisexual, or other non-heterosexual orien- tation was three times higher than Maltese, Census figures show. Census figures released last week show that there were 11,073 LGBTQI+ people living in Malta in 2021. These includ- ed 5,349 Maltese citizens and 5,724 people hailing from other countries. A breakdown of figures by na- tionality shows that while only 1.6% of Maltese citizens declared themselves as hav- ing an LGBTQI+ orientation, the percentage rises to 5.5% among foreign nationals living here. The Italian community boasts the highest percentage (6.8%) of LGBTIQ people followed by migrants from all other EU countries (6.6%), the British (5.7%) the Indians (5.6%), the Nepalese (5.2%) and the Alba- nians (5.1%). The lowest percentages are recorded among Libyans and Syrians among which less than 1% identify as LGBTIQ+. A breakdown by age shows that the percentage of LG- BTIQ people peaks at 5.3% among 30- to 39-year-olds but drops to just 0.3% among over 70-year-olds. While a majority (61%) of people identifying as gay or les- bian were males, 63% of people identifying as bisexuals were females. Significantly the Census shows that while bisexuals ac- count for nearly half of LGB- TIQ+ people in the 16 to 19 co- hort, they account for a much smaller proportion among older age brackets. And while bisexuals account for just 0.5% of the general population, the percentage rises to 1.5% among 16- to 19-year-olds. Not surprisingly the number of LGBTIQ people peaks in the north harbour area which includes major urban locali- ties like Sliema and Birkirkara where they account for 3.3% of the population. These are al- so the localities which attract most foreign workers. More than four in 10 of LGBTIQ+ people live in this region. Number of Maltese LGBTIQ + people probably higher - MGRM Contacted by MaltaToday MGRM Senior Programme Of- ficer Alex Caruana welcomed the fact that for the first time ever the Maltese Census has enumerated the LGBTIQ+ community. The figures confirm that Mal- ta's progressive legislation is becoming a "pull factor" for migrants, some of whom come from countries with restrictive laws, Caruana noted. He said the trend is set to continue in the future, noting that Russians and Italians are increasingly enquiring about the prospect of living in Mal- ta in view of restrictive laws in their countries. Caruana also noted that the increased percentage of LB- TIQ+ people in the north har- bour area and among those aged between 30 and 39 years reflects trends observable in daily life. "The breakdown by age, gen- der and region broadly reflects what we see every day," he said but emphasised that the percentage of LGBTIQ+ peo- ple among the Maltese could reflect a reluctance to declare their sexual orientation. "My impression from daily life is that there are far more LGB- TIQ people in Malta." The under representation could have been more pro- nounced among older people, some of which are still closeted or even married to an opposite sex partner. Another reason could also be that in some cases parents filled the Census form for their children. Caruana augured that the next Census will also include more information on trans- gender people and people who neither identify themselves as males or females. In a Census held in the Unit- ed Kingdom in the same year (2021) 3.3% of the population identified themselves to be LG- BTIQ+. These included 1.5% who identified themselves as gay or lesbian and 1.3% who identified themselves as bisex- ual. In contrast in Malta only 0.5% of all those living in Malta iden- tified as bisexuals while 1.9% identified as gay or lesbian. While in Malta the question on sexual orientation was com- pulsory, in the UK Census 7.5% did not reply to the 'voluntary' question. The 3.3% figure for LGB- TIQ people in the UK was also widely considered to underrep- resent the percentage of LGB- TIQ+ people in the population. Stonewall, a LGBTIQ charity welcomed the recognition of the LGBTIQ community in the Census but argued that Census results are likely influenced by under-reporting and estimate that the actual figure of LGB- TIQ people in the UK is be- tween 5% and 7%. Number % of respective nationalities Maltese 5,349 1.6 Italian 854 6.8 British 566 5.7 Indian 409 5.6 Philippine 289 4 Serbian 216 4.4 Bulgarian 122 3.7 Libyan 15 0.6 Syrian 16 0.9 Nepalese 146 5.2 Albanian 131 5.1 Other EU Member States 1,347 6.6 Other European Countries 337 4.5 Other Citizenship 1,275 6 Number % South harbour 1546 2.1 North harbour 4515 3.3 South East 1321 2 West 986 1.8 North 2100 2.6 Gozo 605 1.8 Number and percentage of LGBTIQ people by region (Maltese and non Maltese) Number and percentage of LGBTIQ+ people in different nationalities living in Malta