Youth's Lives Every Day
LGBTQ+ young people who reported living in very accepting communities attempted suicide at less than a third of the rate of those who did not
May 6, 2026 — The Trevor Project, the leading suicide prevention and crisis intervention organization for LGBTQ+ young people, released The 2025 U.S. National Survey on the Mental Health of LGBTQ+ Young People, analyzing the experiences of more than 16,000 LGBTQ+ young people ages 13 to 24 across the United States. In its seventh iteration, the national survey again found that LGBTQ+ young people are often placed at heightened risk for suicidality because of how they are mistreated and stigmatized.
The 2025 U.S. National Survey findings demonstrate that LGBTQ+ youth report high rates of mental health challenges including considering and attempting suicide, depression, and anxiety. Associated experiences such as anti-LGBTQ+ victimization, including bullying, discrimination, threats of violence, and conversion therapy, as well as the impact of recent anti-LGBTQ+ politics, meaningfully contribute to the negative mental health outcomes observed among this population.
This year’s survey also underscores a range of protective factors for LGBTQ+ youth mental health. LGBTQ+ young people report lower rates of attempting suicide when they have access to supportive spaces and communities, including welcoming school environments. For transgender and nonbinary youth in particular, access to clothing that supported their gender, gender-neutral bathrooms, and respect for their pronouns were associated with lower rates of suicidality.
“Given the current climate in our country, it comes as no surprise that many LGBTQ+ young people are reporting high rates of anxiety, depression, and suicidality. Similar to previous research, this national survey demonstrates that LGBTQ+ youth experience these negative mental health outcomes not because of who they are, but because of how they are mistreated by others,” said Jaymes Black, CEO of The Trevor Project.
“These young people report they are being bullied, discriminated against, and debated about by politicians simply for being themselves. While many of these results are difficult to read, this year’s data point to a hopeful reality for LGBTQ+ youth in the U.S., too: When LGBTQ+ young people report they have welcoming and supportive communities, spaces, and people in their lives, their risk for attempting suicide lowers significantly. As adults and allies, this is our call to action: we must continue to vocally and visibly show the LGBTQ+ young people in our lives that they belong, exactly as they are.”
Key findings from The 2025 U.S. National Survey on the Mental Health of LGBTQ+ Young People include:
- 36% of LGBTQ+ young people seriously considered attempting suicide in the past year, including 40% of transgender and nonbinary young people.
- 1 in 10 LGBTQ+ young people attempted suicide in the past year.
- 44% of LGBTQ+ young people who wanted mental health care in the past year were not able to get it.
- 90% of LGBTQ+ young people said recent anti-LGBTQ+ laws, policies and debates caused them stress or anxiety.
- LGBTQ+ young people of color attempted suicide at higher rates than their White peers, and nearly a third (32%) also experienced racial or ethnic discrimination, in addition to anti-LGBTQ+ discrimination.
- Transgender and nonbinary young people who wanted hormones but couldn’t access them were nearly twice as likely to attempt suicide than those who could.
- Over half (59%) of LGBTQ+ young people ages 13-17 experienced bullying in the past year, and those who did reported significantly higher rates of attempting suicide in the past year than their peers.
- LGBTQ+ young people who reported living in very accepting communities attempted suicide at less than a third of the rate of those who reported living in very unaccepting communities.
This year’s survey featured a new section, “Passing the microphone to LGBTQ+ young people.” In addition to the survey’s quantitative analysis, LGBTQ+ young people also shared their direct responses to two questions: 1) “What kinds of support or resources would be most helpful for you as an LGBTQ+ young person?” 2) “What do you wish you could say to someone who says that they don’t understand what it means to be transgender or nonbinary?” View the full set of responses from LGBTQ+ young people here.
The content and methodology for The Trevor Project’s 2025 U.S. National Survey on the Mental Health of LGBTQ+ Young People were approved by an independent Institutional Review Board. A quantitative cross-sectional design was used to collect data through an online survey platform between March 4 and October 15, 2025. The survey’s final analytic sample consisted of 16,667 LGBTQ+ young people ages 13 to 24 who resided in the United States. To view the survey’s complete methodology, visit https://www.thetrevorproject.org/survey-2025.
If you or someone you know needs help or support, The Trevor Project’s trained crisis counselors are available 24/7 at 1-866-488-7386, via chat at TheTrevorProject.org/Get-Help, or by texting START to 678678.
