10-03-2025
Anti-trans messaging has deepened despair among Wisconsin LGBTQ+ youth, new report finds
Ramped-up political rhetoric that denies the existence of transgender and gender nonbinary youths is having a toll on Wisconsin's LGBTQ+ youths, a new state survey from The Trevor Project says.
The survey, which was published on March 5, asked LGBTQ+ youths aged 13 through 24 across the United States, including Puerto Rico and Washington, D.C., to weigh in on their well-being, mental health risks, access to care, and challenges faced. It's among the first comprehensive reports to capture the impact of recent aggressive GOP campaigns that dismiss the experiences of trans and nonbinary youths.
More than 18,000 LGBTQ+ youths across the country contributed to the national report called the 2024 U.S. National Survey on the Mental Health of LGBTQ+ Young People by State. The survey was conducted between September and December of 2023, amid waves of anti-trans ads that continued to dominate television, podcasts and mailers over the next year.
By the end of 2023, Wisconsin had introduced 15 anti-LGBTQ+ laws, which Dr. Ronita Nath, vice president of research at the Trevor Project, said "can directly cause an increase in suicide attempts" among LGBTQ+ youths.
Here are five things to know about the report.
The report emphasizes that LGBTQ+ young people are not inherently prone to higher suicide risk as a result of their sexual orientation and/or gender identity. Instead, mental health risks stem from discrimination, mistreatment and stigma in society.
That said, 39% of LGBTQ+ youths in Wisconsin seriously considered suicide at the end of 2023, including 44% of transgender and nonbinary youths. Another 12% of LGBTQ+ youths attempted suicide, with 12% of those being transgender and nonbinary youths.
These percentage are far less for cisgender, heterosexual high school-aged students, according to the Youth Risk Behavior Survey report conducted by the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction. The most recent survey found that 12% of heterosexual students considered suicide and 6% attempted suicide.
Although 53% of LGBTQ+ youths in Wisconsin wanted and received mental health care, another 47% who wanted care did not receive it, according to The Trevor Project survey.
The top five reasons youths were unable to receive it broke down in the following way:
"I was afraid to talk about my mental health concerns with someone else": 44%
"I could not afford it": 34%
"I did not want to have to get my parent's/caregiver's permission": 33%
"I was afraid I wouldn't be taken seriously": 32%
"I was scared someone would call the police or involuntarily hospitalize me": 29%
When LGBTQ+ youths experience anti-LGBTQ+ victimization, which includes being physically threatened or harmed, discriminated against or forced into conversion therapy, they report significantly higher rates of attempting suicide, according to the report.
That victimization can ripple from political messaging. About 90% of LGBTQ+ youths said recent political rhetoric negatively impacted their well-being, with 53% saying it impacted them "a lot" and 38% saying it impacted them "sometimes."
To that end, 72% of LGBTQ+ youths between 13 and 17 said they've endured bullying; 41% aged 18 to 24 were bullied.
A quarter of all LGBTQ+ youths in Wisconsin were physically harmed or threatened with physical harm based on their sexual orientation or gender identity in 2024. Additionally, 61% of LGBTQ+ youths say they've experienced discrimination based on their sexual orientation or gender identity.
The survey showed that the political rhetoric has led to 40% of LGBTQ+ youths or their family, including 45% of trans and nonbinary youths or their families, considering leaving Wisconsin due to LGBTQ-related politics and laws.
About 10% of LGBTQ+ youths are either threatened with or subjected to conversion therapy. Conversion therapy, purported to alter same-sex attractions or an individual's gender expression, is a harmful form of intervention recognized by the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry.
Wisconsin has partial laws on the books banning conversion therapy. It's also banned in 14 cities, including Milwaukee, Madison, Eau Claire and Superior, according to Movement Advancement Placement, which tracks LGBTQ-related laws and policies across the United States.
When LGBTQ+ youths live in affirming and supportive spaces and communities, they experience lower rates of suicide, Nath from the Trevor Project said. Increasingly, that looks more like finding "chosen" families for support instead of traditional family structures.
A vast majority of LGBTQ+ youths in Wisconsin, at 71%, said in 2024 their family only supported them at a low or moderate amount. For 76% of trans and nonbinary youths, low or moderate support has been their experience in 2024.
By contrast, young people have felt high levels of support from friends in 2024, at 72% for LGBTQ+ youths and 75% among trans and nonbinary youths.
To better show support and acceptance, LGBTQ+ youths reported these actions:
"Trusting that I know who I am": 87%
"Standing up for me": 81%
"Not supporting politicians that advocate for anti-LGBTQ+ legislation": 76%
"Respecting my pronouns": 63%
"Looking up things about LGBTQ+ identities on their own to better understand": 62%
"People know who they are. If you are able to trust that, you can really uplift them," Nath said. "Something that might seem small to you ― creating an accepting environment ― can make a world of difference to a young person."
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Report shows about half of trans youths considered suicide last year
