Banner Image

Trans and Non-Binary Resources: Why Is This Important?

Why should you make the effort to get pronouns right?

In a 2021 survey of 44,828 LGBTQ+ youth ages 13-24 (including 21,517 transgender and nonbinary youth):

  • More than half of transgender and nonbinary youth (53%) considered suicide in the past year.
  • Nearly 1 in 5 transgender and nonbinary youth attempted suicide.
    • LGBTQ+ youth of color reported higher rates than their white peers.
  • Fewer than 1 in 3 transgender and nonbinary youth found their home to be gender-affirming.
  • 78% of transgender and nonbinary youth reported experiencing symptoms of anxiety.
  • 65% of transgender and nonbinary youth reported experiencing symptoms of depression.
  •  60% of LGBTQ+ youth who wanted mental health care in the past year were not able to get it.
  • Reasons cited for being unable to access mental health care:
    • Fear of not being taken seriously
    • Fear of identity being misunderstood
    • Concerns about receiving virtual care in a hostile home
    • Parents refused

It's even worse for trans BIPOC youth.

12% of white LGBTQ+ youth attempted suicide in 2021. 

  • Compared to:
    • 21% of Native/Indigenous youth
    • 20% of Middle Eastern/Northern African youth
    • 19% of Black youth
    • 17% of Multiracial youth
    • 16% of Latine youth
    • 12% of Asian American/Pacific Islander youth

A 2021 study found that transgender people ages 16+ were more than four times more likely than cisgender people to be the victims of violent crime.

  • 8.61% of trans women were victims of violence vs. 2.37% of cis women.
  • 10.8% of trans men were victims of violence vs 1.98% of cis men
  • Trans households had higher rates of property victimization (214.1 per 1,000) than cis households (108 per 1,000).

A 2022 study found that trans youth ages 14-16 were more than twice as likely as cis peers to experience sexual violence.

  • Trans youth were no more likely than their peers to commit sexual violence.

Why Pronouns Matter for Trans People

We often assume a person's gender based on their appearance and then address them with the pronouns or honorific appropriate for that gender. But what if we assume wrong? We may end up misgendering that person.

According to MyPronouns.org:

"Using someone’s correct personal pronouns is a way to respect them and create an inclusive environment, just as using a person’s name can be a way to respect them. Just as it can be offensive or even harassing to make up a nickname for someone and call them that nickname against their will, it can be offensive or harassing to guess at someone’s pronouns and refer to them using those pronouns if that is not how that person wants to be known. Or, worse, actively choosing to ignore the pronouns someone has stated that they go by could imply the oppressive notion that intersex, transgender, nonbinary, and gender nonconforming people do not or should not exist."

Sharing Your Pronouns

Sources

2022 National Survey on LGBTQ Youth Mental Health. The Trevor Project. (2022). Retrieved September 15, 2022, from https://www.thetrevorproject.org/survey-2022/

UCLA School of Law. (2021, March 23). Transgender people over four times more likely than cisgender people to be victims of violent crime. Williams Institute. Retrieved October 6, 2022, from https://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/press/ncvs-trans-press-release/

Ybarra ML, Goodman KL, Saewyc E, Scheer JR, Stroem IF. Youth Characteristics Associated With Sexual Violence Perpetration Among Transgender Boys and Girls, Cisgender Boys and Girls, and Nonbinary Youth. JAMA Netw Open. 2022;5(6):e2215863. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2022.15863. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2792857