Happy Pride Month!
By Ari Acosta, MSc
Bilingual Senior Policy Analyst at the Center for Innovation in Population Health at the University of Kentucky.
According to The Trevor Project’s recent years national surveys:
- LGBTQ+ young people report higher rates of sexual violence than the general population.
- Just over one in five (21%) Black transgender, nonbinary, or questioning young people reported a suicide attempt in the past year. This number is more than double the number of Black cisgender LGBQ young people (8%) who reported the same.
- 44% of Latinx LGBTQ young people seriously considered suicide in the past year, including 53% of Latinx transgender and nonbinary young people compared to 32% of Latinx cisgender LGBQ young people.
- Over three-quarters of Indigenous LGBTQ young people (77%) reported recent symptoms of anxiety, and 66% reported recent symptoms of depression.
- 28% of LGBTQ youth reported experiencing homelessness or housing instability at some point in their lives — and those who did had two to four times the odds of reporting depression, anxiety, self-harm, considering suicide, and attempting suicide compared to those with stable housing.
Resources:
- 2024 U.S. National Survey on the Mental Health of LGBTQ+ Young People. The Trevor Project.
- Caring for LGBTQ Children & Youth: A Guide for Child Welfare Providers.
- Supporting Black LGBTQ+ Youth Mental Health
- Guide to Being an Ally to Transgender and Nonbinary Young People.
- Policy, Best Practices, & Guidance for Serving Transgender, Gender Expansive, & Non-Binary Children and Youth Involved in the Child Welfare, Detention, and Juvenile Justice Systems
- Moving Beyond Change Efforts: Evidence and Action to Support and Affirm LGBTQI+ Youth
- Gender Affirming Care is Trauma Informed Care.
- Guidance for Title IV-B and IV-E Agencies When Serving LGBTQI+ Children and Youth
Ari Acosta (she/ella) is a bilingual mental health and equity specialist and one of our TCOM trainers at the IPH Center. She focuses on training professionals in the TCOM tools in English and Spanish, as well as provides support on instructional designing and TCOM implementations. Ari is a clinical psychologist by training and a former psychology assistant professor in Venezuela with many years of experience in mental health, gender studies, and human rights education. She’s passionate about bringing her knowledge and expertise into innovative projects to help others.