A new report conducted by The Trevor Project found sobering rates of mental health issues among LGBTQ youth across the United States.
According to The Trevor Project, a non-profit organization that focuses on suicide prevention and crisis intervention for LGBTQ youth, their survey is the “largest survey of LGBTQ youth mental health ever conducted,” with over 34,000 respondents from across the United States.
The report found that 39 percent of LGBTQ youth surveyed had seriously considered attempting suicide in the past year, with more than half of respondents who identified as transgender or non-binary having seriously considered attempting suicide. Over 18 percent of respondents attempted suicide in the past twelve months
In April, Nigel Shelby, a gay freshman at Huntsville High School, took his own life after being bullied for his sexual orientation.
Respondents also said they encountered high levels of discrimination. 71 percent of LGBTQ youth in the study reported experiencing discrimination due to either their sexual orientation or gender identity.
Two in three LGBTQ youth surveyed said that someone tried to convince them to change their sexual orientation or gender identity. Respondents who had undergone conversion therapy were more than twice as likely to attempt suicide as those who did not.
18 states have banned conversion therapy and the practice that has been deemed harmful and ineffective by a number of prominent national professional health associations, including the American Medical Association, the American Psychological Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics.
The goal of the Trevor Project’s research is to “produce and use innovative research that brings new knowledge and clinical implications to the field of suicidology and LGBTQ mental health.”
