The largest slice of the LGBT community pie is mostly in the closet according to new research.

The Pew Research center has found that bisexuals make up 40% of the LGBT community but that most publicly identify as heterosexual or gay out of fear of discrimination.

In comparison, gay men made up 36% percent of the LGBT community while lesbians were 19% and transgender people 5%.

The researchers found that two thirds of bisexuals would not reveal their sexual orientation on social media compared to one in two for gays and lesbians.

77% of gay men and 71% of lesbians said it was important that people close to them knew they were same-sex attracted but only 28% of bisexuals wanted people to know they were bi.

The researchers also found that women were almost three times more likely to identify as bisexual than men. The researchers found that female bisexuality was perceived to be much more accepted than male bisexuality with only 8% saying they felt their sexuality was accepted by society.

‘It depends on the person,’ one 34 year old bisexual woman told the researcher about her decision to tell people about her sexuality, ‘Sometimes it’s a torment, sometimes it’s enlightening.’

‘All my friends know about my sexual orientation, but I keep it private at work. I do not want it to influence my career,’ another woman said.

‘I haven’t mentioned it to anyone close to me in a long time,’ a 54 year old bisexual man told them.

‘It has been truly difficult. Although some approve and take to the news well, there are others who are less supportive and very judgmental,’ a 19 year old bisexual woman told them.

‘It’s a mixed experience: some positive and some very negative,’ another bisexual told the Pew researchers. ‘I’ve lost a lot of ‘friends’ and some family because of my orientation.’

Younger people were the most likely to be out about their bisexual identity.

Bisexual man Jeremy Stacy told the Seattle Times that he had experienced prejudice within the LGBT community because of his bisexuality – even being confronted while marching as a bisexual in the West Hollywood pride parade.

‘One guy came up to me and said, “You’re really gay,”’ Stacy said.

‘I told him I had a long line of ex-girlfriends who would vehemently disagree. And he said, “That doesn’t matter, because I know you’re gay.”’

Stacy said he had once been dumped by a boyfriend when he refused to identify as gay instead of bisexual.