We don’t often hear much about anti-trans bills once they’ve passed, but a new study suggests that young people’s lives might just depend on our continued attention.
Researchers at The Trevor Project — the leading suicide prevention and crisis intervention organization for LGBTQ+ young people — published a study today in Nature Human Behaviour that found states governed under these laws also have higher rates of suicide attempts for trans youth.
“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 (she/her), Vice President of Research at The Trevor Project in a statement.
The study looked at the period from 2018 to 2022 when 48 anti-transgender laws were enacted across 19 state governments. While this is a fraction of the 476 that were introduced in the same five-year period according to Trans Legislation Tracker — which encompassed issues pertaining to youth sports, education, access to gender-affirming healthcare, so-called “bathroom bills” and more —the impact of the approximately 10% that passed has been profound.
The Trevor Project examined the causal relationship between these laws and suicide risk, using data collected from a survey of more than 61,000 transgender and nonbinary youth between the ages of 13 and 24.
The study found a significant increase in suicide attempts among participants whose home state had enacted at least one anti-transgender law. The highest increase in suicide attempt rates — which ranged from 7% to 72% — was reported among participants between the ages of 13 and 17.
The study found “minimal evidence” of increased suicidality in anticipation of these laws. In other words, it doesn’t appear the idea or even the passage of these laws alone leads to an increase in suicide attempts. But started a year after they’d been enacted — i.e. after people had actually spent time living under the law(s) — researchers saw statistically significant increases in such attempts.
These findings come on the heels of another study by the Trevor Project that found anti-LGBTQ+ policies in schools hurt queer kids, including heightened rates of anxiety, depression, and suicidality.
Sadly, the risk to our trans and nonbinary children not only remains but has increased over time. Every year since 2020 has been the most prolific year for anti-trans legislation on record. In 2024 alone, 658 anti-trans bills have been proposed, considerably more than the five years explored in this study.
“It is without question that anti-transgender policies, and the dangerous rhetoric surrounding them, take a measurable toll on the health and safety of transgender and nonbinary young people all across the country,” said Jaymes Black, Chief Executive Officer at The Trevor Project.
“As we get closer to critical elections this November, these young people will continue to be reduced to political talking points. I urge every adult – no matter your political beliefs – to remember that transgender and nonbinary young people are our family, our friends, and our neighbors. It’s not necessary to fully understand their experience to acknowledge that they – like all young people – deserve dignity, respect, and the ability to lead healthy and full lives.”
Read the entire study here.
