LIVING GLOSSARY
Straightforward, sourced definitions for the terms that come up most when learning about transgender health. Each entry links to the original source so you can read further, and this page is updated as language and guidance evolve.
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This glossary covers 14 terms families most often need defined, from Cisgender to Transgender, pulling in both the core Understanding the Basics terms and the Identity, Language & School breadth terms.
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Every definition links to a named source: a medical or professional association or a peer-reviewed study.
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Where a clinical term (like “gender-affirming care” or “puberty blockers”) differs from this site's plain-language style, both are shown and explained.
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This is information, not medical advice, and it isn't a substitute for evaluation by a qualified clinician. Personal care decisions belong to patients, families, and their providers.
WHAT THE MOST RECENT U.S. DATA SHOWS
KEY TAKEAWAYS
WHY THESE NUMBERS LOOK THE WAY THEY DO
The single most important thing to understand before reading any figure on this page: elevated mental health risk among transgender young people is a response to how they are treated, not a feature of being transgender. Researchers call this the minority stress model. The ongoing strain of stigma, rejection, and discrimination raises the risk of depression, anxiety, and suicidal thoughts. When that strain eases, the numbers improve.
The American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Psychological Association, and the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry all describe this same pattern: minority stress, not gender identity, drives the disparities.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s latest available (2024) data on suicide among young people in the United States shows that suicide is the second leading cause of death among young people ages 10 to 24 in the United States. LGBTQ+ young people are more than three times as likely to attempt suicide than their peers.
To examine LGBTQ+ youth mental health in detail, the figures below come from The Trevor Project’s 2025 U.S. National Survey on the Mental Health of LGBTQ+ Young People, which gathered responses from more than 18,000 LGBTQ+ young people ages 13 to 24 across all 50 states. One note on precision: this survey covers LGBTQ+ youth broadly; where a figure is specific to transgender and nonbinary respondents, it is labeled that way.
SUICIDE RISK
In the past year, 46% of transgender and nonbinary young people seriously considered suicide, compared with 30% of their cisgender (or non-transgender) LGBTQ peers, according to the Trevor Project’s 2024 survey. Across all LGBTQ+ respondents, 12% reported a suicide attempt in the past year.
Read these as measures of distress under pressure, not of anything inevitable. The same survey is explicit that these outcomes track with victimization and lack of support.
DEPRESSION, ANXIETY, AND ACCESS TO CARE
A large share of LGBTQ+ young people who wanted mental-health care in the past year were unable to get it, most often citing cost, fear of not being taken seriously, and worry about being outed. Transgender and nonbinary youth report these barriers at especially high rates.
WHAT SUPPORT CHANGES
The protective side of the data is just as strong as the risk side. Trans and nonbinary young people reported lower rates of attempting suicide when the people they live with respected their pronouns, when they had access to a gender-neutral bathroom at school, and when they lived in accepting homes and communities.
Peer-reviewed research points in the same direction. A widely cited study found that access to supportive care was associated with lower odds of depression and suicidality among transgender and nonbinary young people. (Journal of Adolescent Health, via The Trevor Project)
HOW LAW AND POLICY SHOW UP IN THE DATA
Policy is not a background detail here; it is measurable. A 2024 peer-reviewed study in Nature Human Behaviour found that anti-transgender state laws were directly associated with increases in past-year suicide attempts among transgender and nonbinary young people. (Lee et al., Nature Human Behaviour, 2024)
HOW TO READ THESE STATISTICS RESPONSIBLY
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Association is not causation. Most of these findings show that two things move together (for example, support and lower suicide risk). That is a strong and consistent pattern, but survey data describes links, not proof that one causes the other.
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Group data is not a personal forecast. A population statistic says nothing certain about any individual young person.
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Samples differ. Large surveys like Trevor’s are designed to reach many diverse respondents, not to be perfectly nationally representative; compare across years and sources with that in mind.
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Beware of numbers stripped of context. A figure quoted without its source, date, and framing can badly mislead. Every number on this page is dated and linked to its origin.
