New survey on LGBTQ youth finds ‘concerning’ disparities in suicide risk

New survey on LGBTQ youth finds ‘concerning’ disparities in suicide risk

Posted on May 19, 2021

LGBTQ youth of color and transgender and nonbinary youth have a greater risk of suicide than their peers, especially if they have experienced discrimination, according to a new Trevor Project survey. For the first time, the cross-sectional survey, which had nearly 35,000 respondents between the ages of 13 and 24 across the United States, included data on suicide risk as it relates to race and ethnicity. That data shows "concerning" disparities in suicide risk for LGBTQ youth of color and transgender and nonbinary youth, Amy Green, VP of research at the Trevor Project. The survey found that 42% of respondents seriously considered attempting suicide in the past year. For transgender and nonbinary youth, it was more than half. Among the respondents, 12% of white youth attempted suicide compared to 31% of Native/Indigenous youth, 21% of Black youth, 21% of multiracial youth, 18% of Latinx youth and 12% of Asian/Pacific Islander youth. For Dr. Ken Duckworth, CMO of NAMI, that data point showed "big opportunities for people to make a change in their own lives for the people they love." "Clearly, there's a lot of mental health sequelae of not being in an affirming home," he said. "Thinking about how you approach things within your own family — it's a powerful message because 2 out of 3 families apparently aren't meeting the needs of people who are responding to this survey. That's a lot of families." LGBTQ youth with at least one accepting adult in their lives were less likely to attempt suicide, according to Green.