Surveying sexual orientation: asking difficult questions and providing useful answers

Social survey data is essential to measuring equality, to assessing change over time and to the evaluation of the impact of new policies. In this article, we identified and evaluated the survey evidence for assessing equality in relation to sexual orientation in the UK. We reviewed the available survey data in relation to key policy areas such as criminal justice, employment and health. Our analysis suggests that there is only limited survey evidence on the circumstances of gays, lesbians and bisexuals in the UK. This poses major barriers for driving forward an agenda of social justice in relation to gay, lesbian and bisexual citizens. Robust research methodologies need to be developed and resourced in order to gain a representative picture of the socioeconomic circumstances of gay, lesbian and bisexual populations in the UK and to assess how they maybe changing over time.