1 in 5 LGBTQ youth have attempted suicide in the past year – study

Almost 20% of all LGBTQ youth have attempted suicide in the past year alone. This shocking finding was released following a study by The Trevor project into the mental health in the community and paints a picture that is much more severe than anyone expected.

According to the report nearly 1 in 5 LGBTQ people ages 13 to 24, and 1 in 3 transgender and nonbinary young people in the same age group attempted suicide in the past 12 months. While approximately 39% of LGBTQ youth surveyed had seriously considered suicide in the past year.

Two-thirds of LGTBQ youth reported that someone had attempted to convince them to “change” their sexual orientation or gender identity. The study also showed that attempting to make someone change their sexual orientation makes them three times more likely to attempt to commit suicide.

Seventy-one percent of respondents said they’d experienced discrimination because of their orientation or identity. Unsurprisingly, 71% also said they had spent at least two weeks feeling sad or hopeless in the past year.

Amit Paley, the CEO and executive director of the Trevor Project, explained that the stigma was the number one quoted reason for the poor state of mental health among young people in the LGBTQ community.

“It’s important to note that LGBTQ youth are not at higher risk of suicide because of their sexual orientation or gender identity,” Paley said in a statement. “They are at a higher risk because they face harmful rejection and discrimination from friends, families and communities that can make them feel their lives are worth less than their straight or cisgender peers.”

“That is why it is so important that we work tirelessly to let LGBTQ youth know that they are beautiful as they are, that they are deserving of respect, and that they are not alone,” Paley continued.

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