One in four Catalans of Generation Z identifies as non-heterosexual.

BarcelonaMore than 25% of girls – one in four – of Generation Z [born between 1997 and 2012] identify as non-heterosexual. This percentage is double the way their older sisters, the millennials, identify, and also distances themselves from their male peers, who show a more normative sexual orientation. This data is extracted from research by Maria Rodó-Zárate, a researcher at the Pompeu Fabra University of Barcelona (UPF), and Joel Cantó Roche, a doctoral student at the Canadian University of Toronto. Based on two official surveys of 4,000 young Catalan women of both generations, they analyzed how between 2017 and 2018, "more and more young people are opting for less rigid identifications, and moving away from fixed labels such as... gay either lesbian", the authors of the study point out, while adopting "more open positions, such as bisexuality or other forms of sexual diversity".

Rodó-Zàrate admits that the results confirm what they had already suspected with previous quality searches and demonstrate "the ideological differences" between men and women of the same generation. However, the responses are very similar when distinguishing between the level of education, social class, origin. More than identification, a "different way of living sexuality" is noted, surely because in smaller places there is "more social control"

Why women? Rodó-Zárate indicates that behind more young people declaring themselves non-heterosexual, it's not just a question of age (youth), but also that "left-wing political tendencies and feminism" play a strong role. Young left-wing women tend to align their sexual identity with their political beliefs in general and specifically with regard to feminism, according to the study published in the journal Sexuality & Culture.

Following this reflection, the researcher sees a clear relationship between the LGBTI+ identity (acronym related to sexual orientation) and those who declare themselves more progressive and feminist. Both movements have penetrated more intensely among women, as evidenced by the ballot boxes, where it is clear that men are the ones who vote for the most far-right options.

This conservative tendency among men is not only a situation in Catalonia, but is also shared in surrounding countries. Among Z and millennial men, the change in identity is less pronounced, and, furthermore, the less progressive they present themselves, the more heterosexual they identify. The researcher rejects the idea that the breaking of the binary pattern of sexuality among younger generations is a "fad" and, on the contrary, affirms that it is a "trend" because the "historical and social" context allows for greater sexual freedom.