According to a Trevor Project 2023 survey, 18% of LGBT youth have attempted suicide, a rate 2 times higher than teenaged general population.
[9] This higher prevalence of suicidal ideation and overall mental health problems among gay teenagers compared to their heterosexual peers has been attributed to minority stress, bullying, and parental disapproval.
[9][10][11][needs update] Parents with higher levels of education or belonging to different ethnicities do not seem to provide significant impact on LGBT+ suicide statistics.
[12] In terms of school climate, "approximately 25 percent of lesbian, gay and bisexual students and university employees have been harassed due to their sexual orientation, as well as a third of those who identify as transgender, according to the study and reported by the Chronicle of Higher Education.
[17] Research has found that this community experiences a higher level of poverty, suicide attempts, and harassment, while the effects of HIV and being refused health care due to transphobia and/or racism are greater as well.
[18][failed verification] A survey by the National LGBTQ task force found that amongst the black respondents 49% reported having attempted suicide.
[20] A 2022 study found that the use of gender-affirming hormone therapy in transgender and nonbinary youth was associated with a significant decrease in depression and suicidality.
[24] One of the negative outcomes of LGBT youth confiding in family members about their sexual identities is the risk of being kicked out of their homes.
In a sample of 84 transgender youth, those that reported being strongly supported by their parents, had a 93% lower suicide attempt rate (a 14-fold difference).
[34][35] According to Julie Cerel, director of the Suicide Prevention & Exposure Lab at the University of Kentucky, LGBTQ children "experience much more interpersonal stress from schools, from peers and from home".
Also, the differential susceptibility hypothesis suggests that for some individuals their physical and mental development is highly dependent on their environment in a "for-better-and-for-worse" fashion.
The model can help explain the unique health problems affecting LGBT populations including increased suicide attempts.
Adolescent bullying – which is highly prevalent among sexual minority youths – is a chronic stressor that can increase risk for suicide via the diathesis-stress model.
Hatzenbuehler found that even after such social as well as individual factors were controlled for, however, that "LGB status remained a significant predictor of suicide attempts.
"Sexual minority youth, or teens that identify themselves as gay, lesbian or bisexual, are bullied two to three times more than heterosexuals", and "almost all transgender students have been verbally harassed (e.g., called names or threatened in the past year at school because of their sexual orientation (89%) and gender expression (89%)") according to Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network's Harsh Realities: The Experiences of Transgender Youth In Our Nation's Schools.
[44][45] Actions such as Ally Week, Day of Silence, and suicide intervention have helped to combat both self-harm and violence against LGBT people.
[46][needs update] Conversely, a number of researchers have found the presence of LGBT-supportive school staff to be related to "positive outcomes for LGBT youth".
"[48][needs update] Studies have shown that social isolation and marginalization at school are psychologically damaging to LGBT students, and that GSAs and other similar peer-support group can be effective providers of this "psychosocial support".
Normalizing education about sexualities and genders can help prevent adolescents from resorting to suicide, drug abuse, homelessness, and many more psychological problems.
According to researcher Rob Cover, role models and resources benefit LGBT youth only if they avoid replicating stereotypes and provide diverse visual and narrative representations to allow broad identification.
[50] Having a PFLAG (Parents Families, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays) and GSA Club are possible resources to promote discussions and leadership roles to LGBT students.
Research shows that a collaborative effort must be made in order to prevent LGBT students from being bullied and/or committing suicide.
Educating students, faculty, staff, and school boards on LGBT issues and eliminating homophobia and transphobia in schools, training staff on diversity acceptance and bullying prevention, and implementing Gay–Straight Alliances is key to suicide prevention for LGBT students (Bacon, Laura Ann 2011).
[51][needs update] Adolescents grow and are shaped by many factors including internal and external features (Swearer, Espelage, Vaillancourt, & Hymel, 2010).
[52][needs update] The GMCLA (Gay Men's Chorus of Los Angeles) use music and singing as a vehicle for changing the attitudes and hearts of people in schools nationwide.
Their goal is to bring music to standards-driven curriculum to youth with the purpose of teaching content in innovative and meaningful ways.
They instill in students and staff techniques to foster positive meaning of the social and personal issues dealt with in school and society.
Furthermore, Swearer, et al. (2010) discuss a "dosage effect" in which the more positive and consistent elements included in a program, the more the likelihood that bullying would decrease.