Between the rise of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation and a youth mental health crisis, LGBTQ+ young adults are struggling. The Trevor Project, a suicide prevention nonprofit for LGBTQ+ youth, released its sixth annual report on mental health. It contains data from over 18,000 LGBTQ+ youth. Here are the key findings:
- Politics is taking its toll: 90% of LGBTQ+ youth said their well-being was negatively impacted by recent politics. In last year’s survey, one-third of respondents said their mental health was poor because of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation and two-thirds said hearing about potential state or local laws banning LGBTQ+ discussions at school made their mental health worse.
- LGBTQ+ youth are at a crisis point: Last year, 12% of LGBTQ+ youth attempted suicide, 39% seriously considered suicide in the past year, and 50% of respondents who wanted mental healthcare in the past year were not able to get it.
- People are voting with their feet: 45% of trans and nonbinary respondents said they or their families have considered moving to a different state because of local anti-LGBTQ+ laws. Suicide rates for LGBTQ+ youth in unaccepting communities are over twice the rate of suicide rates for youth in accepting communities.
For the first time this year, the report requested that respondents send in encouraging comments to other members of the LGBTQ+ community. “The greatest act of rebellion is to go on living authentically and truthfully; find spaces where you can be yourself unapologetically,” one respondent wrote.