It refers to just lesbian, gay and bisexual individuals and is typically used by anti-trans groups not wishing to be associated with other aspects of the community.

‘LGBTQ+’ was found to be the most commonly used acronym (29 per cent) among respondents, followed by ‘LGBT’ (21 per cent) and ‘LGBTQ’ (13 per cent).

The more inclusive ‘LGBTQIA+’ was used by 11 per cent of respondents, with ‘LGBT+’ used by eight per cent.

When combining the results of the acronyms used with or without the ‘+’ symbol, the most commonly used ones were ‘LGBTQ(+)’ at 42 per cent, ‘LGBT(+)’ at 29 per cent and ‘LGBTQIA(+)’ at 13 per cent.

READ MORE: Majority of anti-trans adults don’t know any trans people, study finds

Overall, 56 per cent of 16-24 year old queer Britons use either ‘LGBTQ’ or ‘LGBTQ+’ when describing the community.

The ‘LGBTQ+’ acronym was most prevalent among queer people aged 16-24 at 41 per cent.

Women also used this term more often (35 per cent), though men were slightly more likely to use ‘LGBT’.

Heterosexuals were found to be far more likely to use the ‘LGBT’ term.

YouGov surveyed 969 LGBTQ+ Britons as part of the research.