Anti-LGBTQ+ Bills Harm Mental Health For Queer Youth, Study Finds
January 23, 2023Across 23 US states so far in 2023 more than 150 anti-LGBTQ+ bills have either been pre-filed or introduced.
The policies themselves and the dangerous rhetoric that comes with them are taking a toll on LGBTQ+ youth across the country.
In a recent poll, The Trevor Project sheds light on how these proposals and legislation that directly target LGBTQ+ youth are having a tangible effect.
Included in the findings was 86% of trans and nonbinary youth reporting debates around anti-trans bills, specifically, have had a negative impact on their mental health.
The report also showed 45% of trans youth experienced cyberbullying, and nearly a third reported “not feeling safe to go to the doctor or hospital when they were sick or injured.”
This is a snapshot of the wider picture of how anti-LGBTQ+ legislation and rhetoric are filtering from political forums through TV and laptop screens and directly into the day-to-day lives of queer young people in the US.
“The bulk of these harmful bills target transgender and nonbinary youth in particular,” said Kasey Suffredini, VP of Advocacy and Government Affairs at The Trevor Project. “These youth continue to hear dangerous rhetoric that distorts who they are and puts their personal welfare up for public debate. That can have an especially damaging impact on their mental health and sense of self.”
According to Healthline, this new poll was conducted by Morning Consult between October 23 and November 2, 2022. It took a national sample of 716 LGBTQ+ young people who were between 13 and 24 years old. The poll also examined the emotional responses these young people had to anti-LGBTQ+ policies in addition to registering the modern social issues that are predominantly causing stress and anxiety among LGBTQ+ youth.
The poll revealed that 71% of LGBTQ+ youth overall reported that state laws that restrict the rights of LGBTQ+ young people “have negatively impacted their mental health.” The number is 86% for trans and nonbinary young people.
Additionally, 75% of LGBTQ+ youth, which includes 82% of trans and nonbinary youth, reported that “threats of violence against LGBTQ spaces” that primarily serve trans people give them stress or anxiety.
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The poll shows that nearly half of these LGBTQ+ young people reported that this gave them stress or anxiety “very often.”
“The Trevor Project’s research has consistently shown that access to safe and affirming spaces can be life-saving for LGBTQ young people. Many of the anti-LGBTQ bills that are being considered in state legislatures right now directly aim to eliminate those spaces and supports for the young people just when they may need them most,” he said. “We urge lawmakers to support LGBTQ youth in their communities and increase access to affirming spaces, not restrict it further,” Suffredini told Healthline.
These policies and the discussions and debates they generate have had a negative cascade in these young people’s lives.
The poll found that:
- 45% of trans and nonbinary youth reported experiencing cyberbullying and online harassment
- 42% stopped speaking to a relative or family member
- 29% no longer felt safe going to their doctor or a hospital
- 29% reported a friend stopped speaking to them
- 24% said they experienced school bullying
- 15% reported their school removed LGBTQ+-affirming symbols such as Pride flags
- 10% experienced physical assault as a result of these policies
When asked how simply seeing information about these anti-LGBTQ+ bills can have on a queer person, Heather Zayde, LCSW, a Brooklyn-based clinical social worker and psychotherapist, told Healthline that this isn’t unique to teens and young adults. It can have “a detrimental effect on people of all ages,” she said.
“When there is an attempt to criminalize such integral and basic needs like using the bathroom, having romantic relationships, or getting appropriate identification documents it sends the message that LGBTQ people are wrong for simply existing,” said Zayde, who is unaffiliated with the new poll.
“The impact on health and well-being can be staggering. People can develop symptoms of anxiety and depression or have issues with eating and sleeping because of the fear that comes with not knowing if one’s rights will be taken away,” Zayde added.
The Trevor Project reported that a record of over 220 anti-LGBTQ+ bills were introduced in 2022. Most of them targeted trans people.
They found that proposals that would ban doctors from providing gender-affirming medical care to trans and nonbinary youth made 74% of transgender and nonbinary youth feel angry.
The poll also showed that these policies made 59% feel stressed, 56% feel sad, 48% feel hopeless, 47% feel scared, 46% feel hopeless, and 45% feel nervous.
The Trevor Project specifically highlighted how American schools have become a particular landmine for LGBTQ+ young people right now, with many of the proposals and legislation filtering directly into the classroom and schoolyards.
The poll shows that policies that would require schools to tell a student’s guardian or parent “if they request to use a different name/pronoun, or if they identify as LGBTQ” while at school made 67% of trans and nonbinary young people feel angry.
Additionally, 54% reported feeling stressed, 51% felt scared, 46% felt nervous, and 43% felt sad.
Among the respondents, 58% of these young people (including 71% of trans and nonbinary youth) reported feeling angry about new policies that ban teachers from discussing LGBTQ+ topics in their classrooms. Within the cohort of trans respondents, 59% said they feel sad, while 41% said they feel stressed.
When it comes to policies and proposals aimed at banning books in school libraries that discuss LGBTQ+ topics, 66% (which includes 80% of trans and nonbinary youth) reported feeling angry, and 54% of trans youth specifically, felt sad about bans on these books.
“Unfortunately, instead of being places for learning and exploration, schools have increasingly become places of censorship and exclusion. This poll found that policies around topics such as respecting students’ identities, LGBTQ inclusive curriculums, and book banning make many LGBTQ youth – and trans and nonbinary youth in particular – feel angry, stressed, scared, and sad,” Suffredini explained. “All young people deserve to feel safe, accepted, and able to thrive at school.”
He added that educators and school officials should ensure their LGBTQ+ students are supported and that they “remain in their corner no matter what rhetoric their state lawmakers may espouse.”
“Young people need this support now as much as ever,” Suffredini said.
When conducting the poll, Morning Consult asked participants an open-ended question: “What social issue impacting our country/world is the most important to you?”
The results show 23% cited LGBTQ+ rights, 17% said abortion, 15% said racism, and 11% pointed to climate change.
The respondents were also given a list of issues in order to measure their sources of stress and anxiety. Out of the total respondents, 60% cited mental health, 57% said “not having enough money,” 52% said “efforts to restrict access to abortion,” as issues that gave them stress and anxiety “very often.”
Underneath these concerns, 48% named threats of violence against LGBTQ+ spaces, 47% cited anti-LGBTQ+ hate crimes, 46% cited homophobia, 44% pointed to gun violence, and 42% cited racism.
More than 65% of all LGBTQ+ youth surveyed said that “both climate change and police brutality often give them stress and anxiety,” according to the poll.
When looking deeper at the participants surveyed, Black LGBTQ+ young people reported higher rates of racism at +22%, +19% said police brutality, +12% cited doing poorly in school, +9% said gun violence gave them “stress or anxiety ‘very often,’ ” when compared to their white peers.
For trans and nonbinary young people, 41% cited disproportionately higher rates of transphobia, 22% cited losing their healthcare, 21% cited anti-LGBTQ+ hate crimes, and 20% said threats of violence in LGBTQ+ spaces gave them “stress or anxiety ‘very often’ when compared to cisgender LGBTQ+ peers.
Zayde pointed to the overwhelming challenge of how anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric and political policies can feed into discrimination and anti-LGBTQ+ sentiments within these young people’s communities.
“A major issue is that when people see our government acting cruelly toward a minority community, it can feel like that gives permission on a micro level for people to do that in their daily lives too,” she stressed. “If a congressperson, for example, berates the use of correct pronouns, an individual might use that as fodder to do the same, thus enacting a maelstrom of bigoted behavior.”
Read related myGwork articles here:
NHS Wait Times Impact Trans People’s Mental Health, Survey Finds
World Mental Health Day: LGBTQ+ Statistics
Republican Attacks On Trans Youth Are Destroying Their Mental Health
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