States that passed anti-transgender laws aimed at minors saw suicide attempts by transgender and gender nonconforming teenagers increase by as much as 72% in the following years, a new study by The Trevor Project says.
The peer-reviewed study, published published Thursday in the journal Nature Human Behavior , looked at survey data from young people in 19 states, comparing rates of suicide attempts before and after bans passed.
Over the past few years, d ozens of states have passed laws affecting how transgender young people do things like play sports, go to the bathroom at school, and access gender-affirming medical care.
The study’s findings are not theoretical for some families.
“You know my child is dead,” Kentucky Senator Karen Berg said at the statehouse during the debate over that state’s anti-trans bill in Feb. 2023. Her transgender son had died by suicide two months earlier at age 24. “Your vote yes on this bill means one of two things: either you believe that trans children do not exist, or you believe that trans children do not deserve to exist.”