ABOVE: The Trevor Project’s logo, photo courtesy The Trevor Project’s Facebook page.
The LGBTQ suicide-prevention nonprofit The Trevor Project has released the results from its second annual national survey on the mental health status of LGBTQ youth living in the United States.
The National Survey on LGBTQ Youth Mental Health 2020 is the “largest survey of LGBTQ youth mental health ever conducted,” representing “the experiences of over 40,000 LGBTQ youth ages 13-24 across the United States.” The survey helps paint a more accurate picture of the everyday challenges faced by LGBTQ youth by providing “critical insights” in areas such as “mental health disparities, discrimination, housing instability, barriers to affirming health care, subjection to conversion therapy and suicide.”
With regard to suicide, LGBTQ youth remain at a high risk for suicide and must also contend with a lack of consistent access to adequate mental health resources. The survey reports that 40% of LGBTQ youth “seriously considered attempting suicide in the past twelve months, with more than half of transgender and nonbinary youth having seriously considered suicide,” while 46% of respondents reported that “they wanted psychological or emotional counseling from a mental health professional but were unable to receive it in the past 12 months.”
LGBTQ youth also appear to be at higher risk at having their sexuality or gender invalidated by those around them. The survey shows that 6 out of 10 LGBTQ youth “said that someone attempted to convince them to change their sexual orientation or gender identity.” The Trevor Project also reports that “78% of youth who underwent conversion therapy reported that it was when they were under the age of 18.”
LGBTQ youth face a significant incidence of physical violence and institutional discrimination. According to the survey, “1 in 3 LGBTQ youth reported that they had been physically threatened or harmed in their lifetime due to their LGBTQ identity.” For transgender and nonbinary youth, 61% reported “being prevented or discouraged from using a bathroom that corresponds with their gender identity, with school being the most frequent place where bathroom discrimination occurs.”
The survey also demonstrates that for LGBTQ youth today, living openly can be a risk factor for homelessness. The Trevor Project reports that 29% of LGBTQ youth “have experienced homelessness, been kicked out or run away.” This increased susceptibility to homelessness can also negatively impact the mental health of LGBTQ youth: “28% of LGBTQ youth who experienced housing instability reported a suicide attempt in the past year.”
When it comes to offering social support to transgender and nonbinary youth, fully accepting their gender identities has a notable impact on their overall well-being. The survey found that transgender and nonbinary youth “who report having their pronouns respected by all or most of the people in their lives attempted suicide at half the rate of those who did not have their pronouns respected.” Access to relevant resources also makes a difference, with the survey noting that transgender and nonbinary youth “with access to binders, shapewear and gender-affirming clothing reported lower rates of attempting suicide in the past year compared to transgender and nonbinary youth without access.”
For LGBTQ youth, having a personal support network can change their self-perception regarding their LGBTQ identity and reduce their risk level for suicide. Out of the 78% of LGBTQ youth who reported “having access to at least one in-person LGBTQ-affirming space,” 12% of those respondents “attempted suicide in the past year compared to 20% of LGBTQ youth without in-person LGBTQ-affirming spaces.”
Media representation and corporate advocacy can also bolster the support networks of LGBTQ youth. The survey reports that more than 80% of youth “said that celebrities who are LGBTQ positively impact how they feel about being LGBTQ” and more than half of youth said “brands who support the LGBTQ community positively impact how they feel about being LGBTQ.”
The National Survey on LGBTQ Youth Mental Health 2020 illustrates the tremendous diversity that exists when it comes to how LGBTQ youth frame and articulate their identities. According to the survey, respondents “identified with more than 100 different combinations of terms to describe their gender,” such as agender, bigender, genderfluid or genderqueer. Additionally, LGBTQ youth surveyed “identified with more than 100 different combinations of terms to describe their sexual orientation,” such as androsexual, asexual, gynosexual and demisexual.
The Trevor Project was founded in 1998 by filmmakers Peggy Rajski, Randy Stone and James Lecesne. The organization’s inception was inspired by the 1994, Oscar-winning short film they made together entitled “Trevor.” Since then, The Trevor Project has gone on to become “the leading national organization providing crisis intervention and suicide prevention services to…LGBTQ young people under 25.”
To read the full results of the survey, click here.
