More than 1 in 10 LGBTQ youth say they attempted suicide in the past year: survey

More than 1 in 10 LGBTQ youth say they have attempted suicide in the past year, according to new research.

Research from The Trevor Project found that 12% of LGBTQ youth ages 13 to 24 said they had attempted suicide in the past year. Thirty-nine percent of the same group said they “seriously considered attempting suicide in the past year,” along with 46 percent of transgender and non-binary youth.

“Once again, this year’s research shows that considering or attempting suicide is not uncommon among LGBTQ+ youth,” said Ronita Nath, vice president of research at The Trevor Project, in a press release for research.

“However, many of the risk factors that contribute to suicide are preventable and are often rooted in victimization behaviors of others,” Nath continued. “The results of this survey clearly identify the need for adults and allies to create more affirming environments for LGBTQ+ youth and better support them to be their authentic selves.”

Other survey findings included 90% of LGBTQ youth saying their “well-being was being negatively impacted” because of “recent policy.”

Another recent report from the Williams Institute at the University of California, Los Angeles found that 93% of transgender teens ages 13 to 17 live in states where there are laws or proposed laws “prohibiting access to gender-affirming care, participation in sports, use of sex-segregated restrooms and other facilities, or gender affirmation through the use of pronouns.”

“Many of our efforts to address the public health crisis of LGBTQ+ youth suicide are hampered by the ongoing wave of anti-LGBTQ+ policies promoted by extremist lawmakers across the country,” said Janson Wu, senior director of State Advocacy and Government Affairs on The Trevor Project in the press release.

The survey was conducted from September 13 to December 16 and included 18,663 LGBTQ people aged 13 to 24 in the US. It has a margin of error of 5 percentage points.