Ireland is 'moving in the direction' towards labeless sexual orientation.
That is according to President of the UCD Students Union, Molly Greenough.
She was speaking after a new study in Britain found just over half of Gen Z - roughly those aged 15 to 25 - say they are exclusively attracted to the opposite sex.
'Exclusively straight'
The data from Stonewall showed that 53% of Gen Zers described themselves as 'exclusively straight', and 40% have a pattern of attraction that could be described as 'queer' - i.e. outside the scope of exclusively heterosexual attractions between cisgender people.
"This suggests that in a single lifetime we may have travelled from a world in which lesbian, gay, bi and queer relationships were hidden and LGBTQ+ people were criminalised, to one in which we are a thriving and growing community," the charity said.
There are stark differences between the generations – with more younger people identifying as lesbian, gay, bi and trans.
In Gen Z, only 71% of people identify as straight (compared to 91% of Baby Boomers), and 14% of people identify as bi or pansexual (compared to just 2% of Baby Boomers).
'Comfortable environment'
Molly told Lunchtime Live this is not surprising.
"I personally wasn't shocked to hear the results of the survey," she said.
"I don't really think it's a matter if there's a significant higher number of queer people nowadays than there would have been in different generations.
"But I do think, just the way society is going in terms of inclusivity, it's made it more of a comfortable environment for people to either come out, or feel comfortable exploring their sexuality."
Labeless orientation
Asked if society was moving towards labeless orientation, Molly said: "I think we are moving in that direction.
"What I will say is, in the meantime until we're at that place, I do think... a lot of people do find comfort in community with identifying with a specific label - whether it's the gay community, trans community or anything like that," she said.
"I do think it's moving in that direction, I wouldn't be surprised.
"And I think the more open and honest conversation we can have about this the better."
'Still not easy'
However Molly said we still have a way to go.
"A sense of community really helps a lot of people because, while society has made a lot of progression, it's still not an easy thing.
"You'll still find people that are homophobic or biphobic or transphobic, or just really negative to queer people and their identities.
"So I think this survey, hopefully seeing the results, maybe there'll be some queer people who might not be comfortable sharing their sexual identity with the world yet - and that's completely OK, it happens at a different pace for everyone".
Trans rights
She said she believes trans rights are what her generation will be fighting for.
"I think it's gotten to a point, even in our generation, where in terms of sexual identity I'd say the vast majority of young people are very accepting - or I'd like to hope so.
"I think the real next fight will be for trans rights and trans liberation; I think that'll be my generation's equivalent to the fight for gay rights," she added.
The data is taken from three surveys using Ipsos’ online Omnibus.
A representative quota sample of 2,150 people aged 16-75 were interviewed in June.
A second poll was conducted with a representative quota sample of 2,176 people aged 16-75, and a third poll took place with a representative quota sample of 2,187 people aged 16-75 in August.
