A new study, which was published earlier today in the journal Nature Human Behavior, reveals that anti-transgender laws have a direct, causal relationship with youth suicide attempts: attempted suicide rates increased by as much as 72% following the passage of such laws.
The study analyzed laws in the United States, breaking their sample down into participants for each state plus D.C. and Puerto Rico. The authors tracked self-reported suicide attempts in youth ages 13 to 17 across multiple years, including after anti-trans laws were enacted in people’s home states. The rate of attempted suicide increased by up to 72% following the passage of an anti-trans law in one’s home state.
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Anti-trans laws have been enacted in states across the country, ranging from Utah’s bathroom bans on trans people in government facilities to Idaho’s forced misgendering laws to Florida’s severe restrictions on gender-affirming care. These laws have forced trans people and families of trans people across the country to flee their home states out of fear for their safety.
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Similar results were found in a sample containing trans and gender nonbinary (TGNB) participants up to the age of 24, with the authors reporting a 38 to 44% increase in past-year suicide attempts following the passage of anti-trans laws. A separate analysis of TGNB youth who had already reported a history of suicide attempts before these laws were enacted shows that, in each age group, there were still substantial increases in the number of people who reported attempting suicide, ranging up to a 49% increase.
In many of these cases, the researchers found that rates of suicide attempts grew over time, which the authors suggest is due to the effects of these laws being felt more with each passing day. That is, the authors suggest that it is not about whether TGNB youth learn that these laws exist or about when media reports on them, but rather the tangible effects these laws have on their lives that cause the results seen in this study.
“Our findings point to evidence that TGNB (transgender and nonbinary) young people in states where anti-transgender laws were enacted experienced statistically significant increases both in the number of past-year suicide attempts and in reporting at least one past-year suicide attempt, especially one and two years after anti-transgender law enactment,” write the authors of the study.
“Our findings build on recent scholarship that demonstrates the association between enactment of state-level anti-transgender laws and increased suicide-related internet searches by people living in those states by providing evidence of a causal relationship between enactment of state-level anti-transgender laws and increased suicide attempts among TGNB young people.”
Results held up to numerous checks for robustness and to ensure that the results were not some sort of “placebo” effect, or a false result caused by errors in the data analysis process. The results also held when controlling for confounding variables. The results suggested that trans youth of color and the youngest in the population were the most likely to attempt suicide. A final analysis found that the COVID-19 pandemic had a minimal impact on the change in rates.
“This groundbreaking study offers robust and indisputable evidence to support what we have already known: the recent wave of anti-transgender laws in the United States is quite literally risking the lives of young people across the country,” said Dr. Ronita Nath, vice president of research at The Trevor Project and co-author of the study, in a press release. “From a scientific perspective, studying the phenomenon of how these policies impact LGBTQ+ young people’s mental health is relatively new. In our analysis of data collected from more than 61,000 transgender and nonbinary youth across five years, this study critically confirms – for the first time – a causal relationship between anti-transgender laws and heightened suicide risk among transgender and nonbinary young people.”
These laws have become a major subject of contention in the 2024 presidential election. Anti-trans laws are a core part of Project 2025, a Heritage Foundation-backed set of instructions for Republican government officials to enact far-right policies at the national level should Donald Trump win the election.
The study, which was conducted by researchers with The Trevor Project, analyzed results for cohorts between the ages of 13-17 and 13-24. The former sample comprised over 35,000 individuals, while the latter sample comprised over 61,000 individuals. The study was conducted through five separate representative non-probability cross-sectional samples, or samples that represent an entire population but are non-random and do not follow the same participants over time. Participants were recruited via targeted ads on social media sites like Facebook or Instagram and filled out online surveys during each data collection period.
Editor’s note: If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available. Call or text 988 or chat at 988lifeline.org. The Trans Lifeline (1-877-565-8860) is staffed by trans people and will not contact law enforcement. The Trevor Project provides a safe, judgement-free place to talk for youth via chat, text (678-678), or phone (1-866-488-7386). Help is available at all three resources in English and Spanish.
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