History at a glance
- According to a new report from The Trevor Project and Morning Consult, more than 80 percent of transgender and nonbinary youth say recent debates over state bills to limit their rights have negatively impacted their mental health.
- Overall, 71% of LGBTQ youth said their mental health took a hit due to state laws restricting the rights of LGBTQ youth.
- 75% of LGBTQ youth reported experiencing frequent stress or anxiety due to threats of violence against LGBTQ spaces, including community centers, Pride events, drag shows, and hospitals or doctors’ offices that provide gender-affirming health care.
More than 80% of transgender and nonbinary youth say recent debates on state bills to limit gender-friendly health care, ban transgender athletes from sports and limit how LGBTQ identity can be talked about in schools have had a negative impact on their mental health, according to a survey released Thursday by The Trevor Project, a national LGBTQ youth suicide prevention group, and Morning Consult.
In 2022 alone, more than 200 bills reviewed by state and federal lawmakers sought to limit the rights of LGBTQ Americans, especially those of transgender youth. Approximately 86% of transgender people aged 13-24 in the Trevor Project survey said such efforts harmed their mental well-being, with 55% reporting that their mental health was impacted “very negatively “.
Overall, 71% of LGBTQ youth said their mental health took a hit due to state laws restricting the rights of LGBTQ youth.
“We have to consider the negative balance of these nasty public debates about the mental health and well-being of young people,” Kasey Suffredini, vice president for defense and government affairs at the Trevor Project, said in a statement Thursday. “LGBTQ youth are watching and internalizing the anti-LGBTQ messages they see in the media and from their elected officials. And so are those who would harm our community.
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Online and in-person attacks against LGBTQ people in the US surged in 2022, prompting a House inquiry into the connection between anti-LGBTQ rhetoric and real-world violence in December, just under a month after a gunman 22-year-old killed five people and injured more than a dozen at an LGBTQ nightclub in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
75% of LGBTQ youth, including 82% of transgender and nonbinary youth, surveyed by The Trevor Project said that threats of violence against LGBTQ spaces, including community centers, Pride events, drag shows, and hospitals or doctor’s offices that providing gender-affirming health care often gives them stress or anxiety.
Nearly half, 48%, of LGBTQ youth surveyed said they experienced stress or anxiety “very often” due to threats directed at the community.
Transgender and nonbinary youth also reported other harmful experiences related to anti-LGBTQ policies and debates, according to The Trevor Project, including online cyberbullying or harassment, isolation from family or friends, and physical assaults.
Nearly a third said they avoided going to a doctor’s office or hospital when ill or injured, and a similar percentage said they were bullied in person at school. Around 15% said Pride flags or other LGBTQ-friendly symbols were removed from their schools due to new laws or political debates centered around LGBTQ identities.
A new Florida education law, for example, severely limits the ability of public school teachers through high school to address topics related to sexual orientation and gender identity in the classroom, prompting discussions about whether certain books or decorations violate the measure, which supporters said was passed to protect children from exposure to inappropriate content.
Other states have pursued policies that require school districts to notify a student’s parent or guardian if the student identifies as LGBTQ or requests to use a different noun or pronoun in school.
Rep. Tim Scott (RS.C.) introduced federal legislation to that effect in September, threatening to withhold government funding from schools with transgender-supportive policies that don’t require faculty or staff to get parental consent before switching. a student’s name or pronouns in school records.
About 67% of transgender youth surveyed by The Trevor Project said they were annoyed by the introduction – and in some cases implementation – of such policies, and more than 50% said they felt stressed or scared.
Nearly 60% of LGBTQ youth, including 71% of transgender and nonbinary youth, said they feel angry about new laws and policies that limit how LGBTQ topics can be discussed in school. Among transgender youth, 59% reported feeling sad and 41% said they were stressed.
More than 70 percent of transgender and nonbinary youth also reported feeling angry about proposed state laws to ban doctors from providing gender-affirming health care to transgender youth.
Already this year, dozens of bills seeking to stop health care workers from caring for transgender children have been introduced, and at least three states aim to ban gender-affirming care for adults under the age of 20 in 2023. .
State lawmakers are also preparing to pass another round of bans for transgender athletes, which nearly a third of transgender youth say has left them feeling hopeless. At least 18 states have passed laws banning transgender women and girls from competing on sports teams consistent with their gender identity.
Suffredini of the Trevor Project said the group is ready to roll back what is expected to be another wave of anti-LGBTQ legislation this year.
“We are prepared for the battle ahead,” he said, “and we will not stop advocating for a safer and more welcoming world for all.”