In harm's way
A study published in the journal Nature Human Behavior is the first to establish that state laws targeting transgender people have caused an increase in suicide attempts by transgender and nonbinary young people between the ages of 13 and 24.
The legislation includes many laws targeting youth specifically, such as restrictions on transition-related health care, prohibitions on transgender student athletes, restricted bathroom access, and bans on the use of gender-affirming pronouns, especially in schools and state-run facilities.
While prior studies have demonstrated a link between LGBTQ+ young people's mental health and the prevalence of harassment and discrimination, this is the first to establish a causal relationship between state laws restricting the rights of transgender people and LGBTQ+ youth suicide attempts.
“That causation is the key aspect,” states Ronita Nath, one of the co-authors of the study. “State-level anti-transgender laws caused — so, not associated with, not linked to — we can say very confidently, they caused up to a 72% increase in number of past-year suicide attempts among trans and nonbinary young people,” along with a nearly 50% increase in transgender and nonbinary young people who made at least one attempt in the previous year (Yurcaba, 2024).
Learn more about the study and its findings in this article from NBC News.
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Study establishes first causal link between anti-trans laws and suicide attempts
References:
Lee, Wilson Y., et al. (2024, September 26). State-level anti-transgender laws increase past-year suicide attempts among transgender and non-binary young people in the USA. Nature Human Behavior. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41562-024-01979-5.epdf?sharing_token=EbX7LsH7-AF5n99850vpnNRgN0jAjW...
Redfield, Elana, et al. (2024, April). The Impact of 2024 Anti-Transgender Legislation on Youth. The Williams Institute of UCLA. https://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/publications/2024-anti-trans-legislation/
Yurcaba, Jo. (2024, September 30). Study establishes first causal link between anti-trans laws and suicide attempts. NBC News. https://www.nbcnews.com/nbc-out/out-news/anti-trans-laws-suicide-attempts-teens-increase-rcna172906
Dee
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Gender Identity
Our core sense of who we are as a man, a woman, a mixture of both, or neither.
Gender Expression
How we show up in the world through choices like clothing, hair style, mannerisms or tone of voice.
Attraction
How we feel toward others sexually, romantically and/or emotionally.
Biological Sex
Physical attributes such as reproductive organs and genitalia, chromosomes, genes and hormone levels.
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Explore the full research findings published in the journal Nature Human Behavior.
The Williams Institute of UCLA has published findings on the number of transgender young people living in states where restrictive legislation has passed or is currently pending.