Dive Brief:
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Nine out of 10 LGBTQ+ youth say recent anti-LGBTQ+ laws, policies and debates have caused them stress or anxiety, according to 2025 data released by The Trevor Project in its annual report tracking LGBTQ+ mental health.
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Over a third of LGBTQ+ young people seriously considered attempting suicide, while 1 in 10 actually attempted it. Meanwhile, 44% of LGBTQ+ youth who wanted mental healthcare were not able to access it.
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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 than their peers.
Dive Insight:
As in previous years, the report found that LGBTQ+ young people who reported living in very accepting communities attempted suicide at a lower rate. In 2025, LGBTQ+ youth living in supportive communities attempted suicide at less than a third of the rate of those who reported living in very unaccepting communities.
In the Trevor Project's 2024 report, LGBTQ+ youth saying they were affected by recent anti-LGBTQ+ policies also reached a high of 90%, after around 66% said the year prior that potential local or state laws banning LGTBQ+ issues at school worsened their mental health.
“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,” said Jaymes Black, CEO of The Trevor Project, in a Wednesday statement. “These young people report they are being bullied, discriminated against, and debated about by politicians simply for being themselves."
However, Black pointed to "a hopeful reality for LGBTQ+ youth" — that when surrounded by supportive environments and people, LGBTQ+ youth's risk for attempting suicide lowers significantly.
Schools have been shown to be one of those supports.
However, starting back to at least 2021, LGBTQ+ students reported decreased access to LGTBQ+-related books and resources in schools, according to Glisten, which advocates for inclusive public schools for LGBTQ+ students. Glisten was formerly known as GLSEN, or the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network.
By 2024, nearly a third of LGBTQ+ secondary and postsecondary students ages 13 to 24 said they attended a school with at least one anti-LGBTQ+ policy, such as curriculum restrictions on gender and identity issues, according to separate findings by The Trevor Project.
And in a separate report released last month by Glisten, LGBTQ+ youth reported their school climate felt more hostile during the 2024-25 school year due to the current political landscape.
In that survey, two-thirds of students said they felt unsafe because of their LGBTQ+ identity, and over half of respondents said they faced LGBTQ+ related discrimination, such as being prevented from using locker rooms aligning with their gender identities.
At the start of his second term, President Donald Trump signed multiple executive orders making it more difficult for schools to be inclusive, such as limiting schools' diversity, equity and inclusion efforts and prohibiting some LGBTQ+ support.
