Hundreds of people gathered at Washington Square Park in New Orleans on March 31, 2023, for a march to mark Transgender Day of Visibility. (Greg LaRose/Louisiana Illuminator)
A survey of LGBTQ+ youth in Louisiana shows politics increasingly impacts their mental health.
Nearly half of LGBTQ+ youth surveyed in Louisiana by The Trevor Project’s annual U.S. National Survey on the Mental Health of Young People reported that current politics affected their mental health “a lot.” That’s up from 38% in 2022, the most recent year when the Trevor Project, a suicide prevention organization focused on LGBTQ+ youth, made its survey results available by state.
The report found 32% of LGBTQ+ youth in Louisiana have considered suicide and 10% attempted suicide. For transgender youth, 42% considered suicide, while 14% attempted it.
Two-thirds of Louisiana’s LGBTQ+ youth reported symptoms of anxiety, and 48% reported symptoms of depression. Those numbers are higher for transgender young people, with 75% reporting anxiety and 64% reporting depression.
“LGBTQ+ young people are not inherently prone to higher suicide risk because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. Rather, they are placed at higher risk because of how they are mistreated and stigmatized in society,” the report says.
The release of the survey comes amid increasing politicization of LGBTQ+ people, particularly LGBTQ+ young people. President Donald Trump made transgender people a key target in his culture-war focused campaign and has continued to do so after taking office, making moves to disallow transgender people from serving in the military.
In Louisiana, lawmakers have passed several laws over recent years that have targeted LGBTQ+ youth.
In 2022, lawmakers passed a law to prohibit transgender athletes from competing in accordance with their gender identity.
In 2023, Louisiana adopted legislation that prohibits transgender youth from accessing gender-affirming health care. Gov. John Bel Edwards, a Democrat, vetoed the bill, but it was easily overridden. Research indicates gender-affirming care leads to improved mental health outcomes.
Last year, lawmakers passed a law that restricts what names and pronouns transgender and nonbinary students can use in K-12 schools and one that limits discussions of gender and sexual orientation in K-12 schools. Gov. Jeff Landry, a Republican, signed both bills into law.
Only 37% of Louisiana youth the Trevor Project surveyed identified school as an affirming place.
The survey also reports 18% of LGBTQ+ youth were physically threatened or harmed, while 62% reported experiencing discrimination. The vast majority of youth also reported low or moderate levels of support from their families.
The survey included 191 Louisiana young people aged 13-24. Survey responses were gathered online, and respondents were recruited via social media.
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