Intersections of Autism and Sexual and Gender Diversity Among Young People in New Zealand

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Fraser, B., Saha, S., Buchanan, M., Gibb, S., Monk, R., McLay, L., Campbell, P. J., Rogers, J., & Bowden, N. (2026). Intersections of Autism and Sexual and Gender Diversity Among Young People in New Zealand. Autism, 13623613261460933-13623613261460933. https://doi.org/10.1177/13623613261460933

Publication date: 8 Jul 2026 Added to AutiHub: 11 Jul 2026 Type: Article Article language: English
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Authors

Publication authors
9
Publication authors identified as autistic
1 / 9 (11.1%)
  1. Brodie Fraser
  2. Sujata Saha
  3. Mary Buchanan
  4. Sheree Gibb
  5. Ruth Monk *
  1. Laurie McLay
  2. Phoebe Jean Campbell
  3. Jordan Rogers
  4. Nicholas Bowden

Abstract

International research suggests there is a common intersection between Autism and sexual and gender diversity. However, there is limited data estimating the whole-of-population prevalence of this association, both abroad and in Aotearoa New Zealand (NZ). Utilising NZ's Integrated Data Infrastructure, a research database containing linked administrative and survey data, we conducted a nationwide cohort study of those in the age range 5-24 years for whom Census 2023 records existed. From a study population of 1,266,453 young people, 1.5% were identified as Autistic. After adjustment for demographic measures, we found significantly higher rates of Autism among sexually- and gender-diverse young people than among their heterosexual and cisgender peers. This included for those identifying with a gender outside of the male/female binary (3.9%) compared to both males (2.3%; 1.7 times as high) and females (0.7%; 5.8 times as high), transgender people (4.0%) compared to cisgender people (1.5%; 2.9 times as high), and non-heterosexuals (2.2%) compared to heterosexuals (1.4%; 1.8 times as high).Lay AbstractInternational research suggests there is a common overlap between Autism and sexual and gender diversity (such as people who are gay, lesbian, transgender, etc). However, there is little data about this association on a whole-of-population scale. We conducted a nationwide study of young people aged 5-24 years to explore this crossover. From a study population of 1,266,453 young people, 1.5% were identified as Autistic. Looking at sexual- and gender-diversity data, we found there were significantly higher proportion of people who were Autistic among sexually and gender-diverse young people compared to their heterosexual and cisgender peers.

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Bibliography cited by this reference

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Cited bibliography overview

These indicators describe the bibliography cited by this publication. An author name is counted each time it appears in one cited reference, so the same person can be counted more than once. Names not yet linked to an author already present in AutiHub are treated as unknown, not as non-autistic. Last computed: 2 Oct 2026 07:57.

Cited references
31
With a DOI
25
Without a DOI, from raw bibliography text
6
5 / 31 (16.1%) cited references include at least one author identified as autistic.
References with data to complete
2 / 31 (6.5%)
References with detected author names
30 / 31 (96.8%)
Without detected author names
1
Without a structured title
2
Without a stable identifier
6
References with raw author names still to review
1
References with external metadata lookup issues
0
These indicators apply to cited references displayed on this page, after technical duplicates have been merged. A reference without a DOI can still support author statistics when a title and author names are available.
Author names detected in the cited bibliography
291
From DOI or external metadata
291
From validated raw bibliography text
0
Raw names already validated
0
Raw names still to review
1
97 / 291 (33.3%) names are linked to an author already present in AutiHub. 194 / 291 (66.7%) names are not yet linked.
Names linked to a person identified as autistic
8 / 291 (2.7%)
Calculated across all author names detected in the cited bibliography. Among names linked to an author already present in AutiHub: 8 / 97 (8.2%). Distinct people identified as autistic: 7 / 250 (2.8%).
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