1 in 10 LGBTQ Youth Have Attempted Suicide in the Past Year. Here’s What Parents Need to Know.

“I’m just a person. I want to live like the rest of humanity. I want to one day be able to be a husband and father but my hope for that diminishes when I’m not even allowed to be a son.”

So said a 16-year-old from Texas, one of over 16,000 LGBTQ youth between 13 and 24 who responded to the Trevor Project 2025 U.S. National Survey on the Mental Health of Young People, the results of which were released on May 6.

The teen’s defeated response to the question, “What do you wish you could say to someone who says that they don’t understand what it means to be transgender or nonbinary?” unfortunately matches much of the survey’s stark findings — including that 1 in 10 LGBTQ youth attempted suicide in the past year, with young people of color attempting suicide at higher rates than their white peers.

Further, 36% seriously considered suicide in the past year (including 40% of trans and nonbinary young people), 44% who wanted mental health care could not access it, and over half (59%) of LGBTQ youth ages 13 to 17 experienced bullying in the past year.

A whopping 90% say recent anti-trans laws — which affect more than half of U.S. transgender youth across 29 states, according to a January study — have negatively impacted their mental health.

“For the seventh year, the U.S. National Survey found that LGBTQ+ young people are too often placed at higher risk for suicide not because of who they are, but as a result of how they are mistreated and stigmatized,” noted the survey results. “This year, anti-LGBTQ+ victimization, policies and rhetoric contributed meaningfully to the rates of poor mental health and suicide risk observed among the LGBTQ+ young people who took this survey.”

LGBTQ Youth Are Not Inherently Prone to Higher Suicide Risk

It’s mistreatment and stigma, rather, that are risk factors. Heightened anxiety and lack of access to mental health care are also making big negative impacts, the report found: 62% of LGBTQ young people have recently experienced anxiety and 47% depression.

It also found that 84% of all LGBTQ people wanted mental health care, but 44% could not access it.

Race matters, too. Eight percent of white LGBTQ youth attempted suicide in the past year, compared to 19% of Black/African, 12% Hispanic, 19% of Middle Eastern, 16% Native, 11% Asian American, and 12% of multiracial LGBTQ youth.

Also a huge factor? The political discourse in this country, which has made 78% of those surveyed feel unsafe and 76% say it has impacted their mental health. More than 8 in 10 (83%) say they have noticed harmful rhetoric around LGBTQ people and 72% said they encountered derogatory terms about their identity.

“These are chronic stressors that they’re feeling in a much more heightened environment,” says Samantha Quigneaux, National Director of Family Therapy Services for Newport Healthcare, where she has a focus in LGBTQ issues.

Our society in general, in terms of social media and technology, is largely to blame, she says. “There’s so much messaging that comes out. So yes, while it is tied to policy, what we’re also seeing across social media and media outlets in general is the acceptance of non-affirming environments,” says Quigneaux. “And it’s louder, I would say, than years ago.”

Queer youth treated at Newport, she says, speak of feeling judged harshly, and of their identity being spoken about in the media, “and how deeply personal that feels.” There’s a feeling, she explains, “that there is a personal attack happening because of their identity, so there’s this internalized, consistent sense of fear and shame.”

What Parents Need to Know

On the upside, according to the Trevor Project report, 78% of surveyed youth have heard supportive language about their identity. And this could make all the difference when it comes to feeling safe.

It’s something important for parents to understand, says Quigneaux, who suggests “really engaging in these conversations, being present, and being openly affirming.”

That’s going to look different from family to family, she says, “but ultimately, it’s letting them know, ‘I’m here for these conversations. I love you. I accept you.’ And even if parents are in their own journey of understanding, it’s saying, ‘We’re going to walk this path together.’”

It’s important, she stresses, to be direct when asking about their mental health, including suicidality. “Naming self-harm or suicide — specifically asking, ‘Do you have thoughts of hurting yourself?’ — is not going to put the idea in their head,” she says. “We have to ask these questions.”

Equally important, though, is telling them if they don’t want to talk to you are another parent about what they’re feeling, you can help them get help, and that it’s not all on them to find it.

“The whole element of togetherness, community, connection, attachment, is really core to providing support to LGBTQ youth,” she says, particularly when it’s common to worry about being abandoned or judged by parents or caregivers. “So it’s about reinforcing, ‘We’re here. We love you. We’re going to walk this with you.’”