Transgender youth

"Research shows transgender individuals are younger on average than the U.S. population. We find that youth ages 13 to 17 are significantly more likely to identify as transgender (1.4%) than adults ages 65 or older (0.3%)."

"Almost 2% of High School students identify as transgender"

"27% feel unsafe at or going to or from school"

"Nearly one in five people who identify as transgender are ages 13-17."

"At the state level, our estimates range from 3.0% of youth ages 13 to 17 identifying as transgender in New York to 0.6% in Wyoming."

"The majority of respondents who were out or perceived as transgender while in school (K–12) experienced some form of mistreatment, including being verbally harassed (54%), physically attacked (24%), and sexually assaulted (13%) because they were transgender. Further, 17% experienced such severe mistreatment that they left a school as a result."

"Most participants who started gender-affirming hormones in adolescence continued this treatment into adulthood. The continuation of treatment is reassuring considering the worries that people who started treatment in adolescence might discontinue gender-affirming treatment."

"Since 2013, HRC and other advocates have tracked over 200 cases of fatal violence against transgender and gender non-conforming people across 30 states and 113 cities nationwide. Beyond fatal violence, the transgender and non-binary community faces higher rates of harassment and physical assault — including transgender young people, with 43% of transgender youth reporting being bullied in school. Laws targeting transgender people — and the political rhetoric surrounding anti-transgender bills — send a message that transgender people are not worthy of equal treatment, contributing to dangerous stigma that drives this epidemic of violence. Bottom line: when transgender people aren’t valued — including by their own lawmakers — their lives are viewed by some as disposable, putting them at risk."

"Transgender youths (those whose gender identity* does not align with their sex†) experience disparities in violence victimization, substance use, suicide risk, and sexual risk compared with their cisgender peers (those whose gender identity does align with their sex). Yet few large-scale assessments of these disparities among high school students exist."

"We are disappointed with this latest executive order. Policies that restrict or bana ccess to necessary medical care for transgender youth are harmful to patients and their families. Transgender youth need comprehensive, individualized, family-based care from multidisciplinary teams. Healthcare decisions should be made by patients, families, and their healthcare professionals, guided by evidence-based practices, clinical guidelines, and individual needs rather than government mandates."

"The reported prevalence of all experiences assessing violence victimization was higher among transgender students than among both cisgender males and cisgender females, including 23.8% reporting ever being forced to have sexual intercourse and 26.4% having experienced physical dating violence. A higher percentage of transgender students also reported lifetime use of all substances except marijuana than did cisgender male and cisgender female students; marijuana use was more prevalent among transgender students than among cisgender male students only. A higher proportion of transgender students reported all suicide risk outcomes than did cisgender students. Transgender students were more likely than cisgender students to report first sexual intercourse before age 13 years, sexual intercourse with four or more persons than were cisgender students, and no method to prevent pregnancy at last sexual intercourse. Transgender students were more likely than were cisgender females to have ever had sex (43.1% versus 33.2%) and to have drunk alcohol or used drugs before their last sexual intercourse (30.0% versus 17.9%). Transgender students were more likely than were cisgender males to report no condom use during their last sexual intercourse (63.8% versus 37.6%). Transgender students were less likely than cisgender males and cisgender females to have not ever been tested for HIV (70.0% versus 87.4% and 86.9%, respectively)."

"In the Netherlands, treatment with puberty suppression is available to transgender adolescents younger than age 18 years. When gender dysphoria persists testosterone or oestradiol can be added as gender-affirming hormones in young people who go on to transition. We investigated the proportion of people who continued gender-affirming hormone treatment at follow-up after having started puberty suppression and gender-affirming hormone treatment in adolescence."