Autism, Sexuality and Gender: The Double Rainbow

Did you know that an autistic person is more likely to be LGBTQA+?

About 20% of people who go to Gender Clinics here in the UK are diagnosed autistic. That’s nearly a quarter of trans people seeking to transition. So this statistic doesn’t even account for those unable to transition, who don’t want to medically transition and those who are autistic but have not been diagnosed.

On top of this, a survey done in 2018 showed that only about 30% of autistic participants identified as heterosexual. This is vastly different to the 70% of nuerotypical participants who identify as hetero. Only 8% of autistic women identified as hetero with the majority identifying as asexual, m-spec (identities that are attracted to more than 1 gender), lesbian or queer.

So if you’re autistic and are currently going through puberty, you’re not broken for how you feel in relation to yourself or others. If you feel like you were born in the wrong body, there is a community of us out there who can help and guide you in your exploration and understanding. If you feel like you’re not attracted to anyone, that’s okay, a surprising amount of autistic people are on the asexuality spectrum.

Autism, Sexuality and Gender are all on a spectrum and sometimes they overlap.