Pride Month is a time to celebrate the contributions of the LGBTQ community and also provides an opportunity to dig deeper into the challenges faced by LGBTQ youth and work with communities to ensure students have access to the wraparound services that help promote academic achievement and social-emotional well-being.
Research shows that LGBTQ youth face greater challenges with mental health and well-being than their heterosexual and cisgender peers. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 53 percent of LGBTQ high school students reported poor mental health in the 30 days prior to data collection, compared to 21 percent of heterosexual and cisgender students. A 2024 survey from the Trevor Project found 39 percent of LGBTQ young people seriously considered attempting suicide in the past year — including 46 percent of transgender and nonbinary youth, and one in 10 have attempted suicide.
This data points to the need for more supports for LGBTQ youth and a new report by Hope Lab and the Born This Way Foundation presents research on the importance of affirming online spaces for all youth, but especially LGBTQ youth. In Without it, I Wouldn’t Be Here Today: LGBTQ+ Young People’s Experiences in Online Spaces, researchers cited that “transgender young people face even higher rates of poor mental health than their cisgender LGBQ+ peers, largely due to the unique challenges and stigma related to their gender identity. Additionally, LGBTQ+ young people living in rural areas are at greater risk for poor mental health in comparison to LGBTQ+ young people living in suburban/urban areas. Despite these disparities, protective factors — such as supportive friends and environments — may help mitigate these challenges and promote well-being.”
The report examines and shares the perspectives of LGBTQ youth on how they use online communities to explore their sexual and gender identities and find peer support. It also looks at some of the negative parts of the online environment such as cyberbullying.
Key findings
- LGBTQ young people, particularly those who are transgender and nonbinary, are more comfortable being out online than in person because they feel safer. “In open-ended responses, LGBTQ+ young people highlighted ways in which being able to come out and be accepted online made a huge difference in their lives, contributing to their ability to be their whole selves in ways they couldn’t with their in-person communities and families.”
- Forty-four percent of LGBTQ youth feel “very safe” online and 92 percent feel compared to just 9 percent in person, according to the report.
- LGBTQ youth find their identities greeted with more kindness online versus in person, at 61 percent compared to 23 percent, respectively.
- Online and in-person friends are rated as more supportive than family among LGBTQ young people at 63 percent for online friends, 62 percent for in-person friends and 33 percent for family. Those who experience in-person spaces that were very supportive of their LGBTQ identity had nearly half the rate of depression compared to those without such support (28 percent versus 53 percent). For online support, “there were no significant differences in depression among those who felt spaces were very supportive compared to somewhat supportive or less (47 percent vs. 52 percent),” the report states.
- Even with this positive data, one in three LGBTQ youth have experienced bullying online in the past year related to their identity.
The report features anonymous quotes throughout:
“In the real world, barely anybody truly knows me because I have had to hide half of myself that is essential to who I am as a person, but not online. I have grown as a person because of my online friends and have been able to feel better about myself with their support,” said one nonbinary teen.
“I feel like I can be my truest self [online] instead of having to hide like I have to do in my daily life because I live with transphobic parents and family and experience transphobia almost daily,” said a transgender young adult.
Read the full report.
