LGBTQ+ people—and especially LGBTQ+ people of color—face both explicit and implicit violence and harassment on an ongoing basis pretty much everywhere in the world. Has progress been made? Yes. Is there a lot more work to be done? Also yes. It’s not surprising to hear that a marginalized and actively legislated-against population might report a higher rate of mental health issues than cisgender, heterosexual people. But it’s still important—and sobering—to look at the numbers.
For example, we have fresh data courtesy of the Sapiens Lab, a nonprofit research group, based on the responses of 223,000 people from more than 30 countries, as first reported by Pink News. In a report published on March 15, researchers shared that depending on the area, between one-third and 85% of nonbinary people say they live with mental health distress. Cisgender men reported the best well-being, then cisgender women, and then non-binary and other trans folks. On average, 51% of nonbinary people said they’re living with mental health struggles.
RELATED: New study finds important connection between gender-affirming care and mental health for trans youth
Data was collected online via the Mental Health Quotient (MHQ) between Jan. 1 and Dec. 31, 2021. The survey was anonymous and meant to gather information to gauge trends in overall well-being in mental health. In the findings, high-point scores point to better mental health and lower-point scores to worse mental health. For example, on the global scale, cisgender men came in at 68% while nonbinary people came in at an average of 25%. That’s a big gap.
Now, to be fair, many people are experiencing mental health symptoms (either ongoing or new) given that we’re still living in a global pandemic. Some of us (or our loved ones) are living with COVID-19 or related physical illness in addition to mental health conditions perhaps exacerbated by lack of social interaction, or stress about job loss, or housing insecurity.
But nonbinary and trans people lack important protections in general, and therefore any issue concerning protected pockets of the population is likely to be even more worrisome for people without legal protections and resources. This is especially true when you consider people who live with multiple marginalized identities—a Black trans sex worker, for example, or a disabled trans youth of color.
Again, this research is global, so it’s not accurate to suggest all of this has to do with U.S. politics, but it is important to note the onslaught of anti-trans legislation and the very real impact it can have on nonbinary and trans people of any age. We know LGBTQ+ people in general report higher rates of depression and anxiety, and yet Republicans are more than happy to try and legislate queer people out of existence by keeping us out of sports, bathrooms, and even being discussed in public school.
And studies also show that gender-affirming care (as well as acceptance itself) can make a hugely positive impact on the mental health of trans youth. One recent study, for example, appears in the Journal of the American Medical Association and finds that youth between 13 and 18 who received gender-affirming care reduced their rate of moderate to severe depression by 60%. This care also reduced their odds of experiencing suicidal ideation by almost three-quarters.
Yes, Republicans are trying to ban lifesaving care that is backed by all major medical associations and is shown to improve quality of life and mental health. Yes, it’s as bad as it sounds.
Talking about mental health might not change the mind of a Republican in office who is hellbent on using trans folks as a scapegoat just in time for midterm elections, but it might help reach people in your life who are struggling to get on board with trans allyship and activism.