LGBTQ+ and Suicide

Do LGBTQ+ people have a higher than average suicide rate?

Yes, probably. Because the Center for Disease Control and Prevention does not track the sexual orientation of suicide victims, completed suicide rates are difficult to determine.[1]

However, LGBTQ+ individuals show higher rates of behaviors associated with suicide—such as attempting suicide and suicide ideation.[2]

What are the reasons for this?

There are probably many reasons. Much of all research on LGBT suicide focuses on negative environmental factors, such as social stigma, familial rejection, and discrimination as contributing to a higher risk of suicide.[3] However, sexual minorities are also more likely to experience suicide risk factors such as drug abuse,[4] STDs,[5] severe mental illness,[6] and homelessness.[7]

LGBQ Suicidality in Utah Students

Bar graph indicating percentage of surveyed that considered suicide and attempted suicide across religions including Latter-day Saint, Catholic, Protestant, other, and none. — 28% of LGBQ Latter-day Saints considered suicide compared with 49% of LGBQ students that identified their religion as "None." Student data (grades 6, 8, 10, 12) from 86,346 Utah students, 4.7% of which identified as LGBQ. [8]

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Footnotes

[1]↩︎
In the United States, the CDC is the primary data source on completed suicide. Because these statistics do not include data on sexual orientation, suicide rates of LGBTQ+ people are difficult to determine.
Some international research drawing on data available in Denmark shows that same-sex married couples in that (relatively gay-affirming) context report higher completed suicide rates than their opposite-sex married counterparts.
[2]↩︎
For example, according to the CDC, during the 2015-2016 year:
Nationwide, 17.7% of all students; 14.8% of heterosexual students; 42.8% of gay, lesbian, or bisexual students; and 31.9% of not sure students had seriously considered attempting suicide during the 12 months before the survey.
The largest survey (28,000) of transgender people in the United States also reported that "Forty percent (40%) of respondents have attempted suicide at some point in their life, compared to 4.6% in the U.S. population."
- NCTE gives a summary of largest survey of trans-identified individuals to date.
- CDC combined results on sexual minority suicidality from various large government surveillance surveys.
[3]↩︎
For example, a study in Developmental Psychology found that "coming-out stress" was related to suicidal ideation as well as " feeling like a burden" to those in their lives.
Another study in the journal Crisis identified "school stigma factors," "negative reactions to coming out from family and friends," and LGB-related harassment" as risk factors for LGB suicide.
In general, studies find that people who experience more negativity from others, whether it's in school, church, or their family, exhibit poorer mental health and a higher risk of suicide.
[4]↩︎
For example, the College of Nursing at the University of Illinois conducted a survey of 35,000 people and found that gay men were twice as likely to report a substance use disorder in the past year as their heterosexual counterparts, and lesbian women are four times more likely.
Substance abuse seems to be strongly associated with suicidality. In one study, 40% of people seeking treatment for substance abuse had a history of suicide attempts.
- Study showing that sexual minorities exhibit higher drug use.
- Literature review on the connection between drug addiction and suicidality.
[5]↩︎
For example, the CDC reports that "In 2014, gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men accounted for 83% of primary and secondary syphilis cases where sex of sex partner was known in the United States."
They also reported that "gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men are 17 times more likely to get anal cancer than heterosexual men."
STDs also seem to influence suicidality. For example, people with AIDS have approximately 100 times higher chance of dying by suicide than people without AIDS.
- CDC report that shows that gay men have higher STD rates.
- General Psychiatry review that shows that people with AIDS have higher suicide rates.
[6]↩︎
A review on severe mental health problems among LGBT individuals noted studies that found higher rates of psychosis, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia in LGBT populations.
For example, the odds of an LGB person having psychosis in the United Kingdom were 3.75 times higher than among those who were heterosexual.
Severe mental illness is also associated with higher suicide rates. One review suggested that 90% of suicide victims had some type of mental disorder.
- Review of research on severe mental illness in the LGBT community.
- Review that shows that the vast majority of suicide victims have mental illness.
[7]↩︎
Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago, a policy-making think tank, concluded:
Young adults, ages 18 to 25, who identified as LGBTQ experienced homelessness within the last 12 months at over twice the rate of their heterosexual peers who identified as their birth gender (“cisgender”). Young people who identified as LGBTQ made up about 20% of those young adults who reported homelessness. In larger, urban communities, the proportions of youth experiencing homelessness who identified as LGBTQ were higher than for smaller, more rural communities,and reached up to 40% of homeless youth in one county’s youth count.
Homeless people, in turn, are much more likely to commit suicide. In one population-based study, non-veteran people with a homeless history had 4.1 times higher chance of attempting suicide than non-veterans without a homeless history, whereas veterans with a homeless history had a 7.8 times higher chance of suicide than veterans without a homeless history.
- Study that shows that homeless people have much higher suicide rates than other groups.
- UoC resource that highlights LGBT homelessness.
[8]↩︎
This graph was published by Dyer et al. in BYU Studies advance online version. The data is taken from the 2019 Student Health and Risk Prevention (SHARP) statewide survey administered by the Utah Department of Human Services.
- BYU study finds LGBQ LDS youth show lower suicidality than their non-LDS counterparts (online version.)
[9]↩︎
For example, one study published by Cranney in the Journal of Homosexuality using government survey data (The Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System) found that LDS Utah sexual minorities in Utah reported better mental health than their non-LDS, Utah sexual minority counterparts.
Dyer et al. in BYU Studies using data from the Utah Department of Health surveyed 86,346 students found that Utah LDS sexual minority youth were less suicidal than their non-LDS sexual minority counterparts.
Another study from Bowling Green State University researchers analyzed the same data as Dyer and also found that LDS sexual minority youth reported better outcomes than non-LDS sexual minorities.
[10]↩︎
A 2023 review of studies conducted on mental health among Latter-day Saints from 2005-2022 found that most studies focused on sexual minorities among Latter-day Saints, and that their mental health was generally better than non-Latter-Day Saint sexual minorities.
- William Justin Dyer et al., publish an article that reviews studies on Latter-day Saints and mental health 2005-2022.
[11]↩︎
Non-government, online studies in this field usually try to reach sexual minorities through advocacy and or LDS/LGBT organizations.
- Study that finds that LDS LGBT have worse mental health than former LDS LGBT.
- Study finds that former LDS gay men reported lower suicidality than LDS gay men; no difference was found for women.
[12]↩︎
For example, a study by John Dehlin and colleagues published in the Journal of Gay and Lesbian Mental Health using a survey he disseminated among various media outlets and LDS LGBT organizations and found that LDS sexual minorities reported worse mental health than their non-LDS counterparts.
James Bridges published a study in GLBT Family Studies using data from a survey disseminated among LGBT LDS and LDS outlets showing that gay men who had disaffiliated from the LDS Church showed less suicidality than those who hadn't. Gay and lesbian women showed no difference.
- Study that finds that LDS LGBT have worse mental health than former LDS LGBT.
- Study finds that former LDS gay men reported lower suicidality than LDS gay men; no difference was found for women.
[13]↩︎
G. Tyler Lefevor and colleagues published several studies using survey data, one finding that former and current Latter-day Saint exhibited similar levels of suicidal ideation, one finding that (largely Latter-day Saint) same-sex individuals who did not identify as sexual minorities exhibited similar levels of mental health as their sexual minority-identifying counterparts.
Using the same government data, another study published in the social psychology journal, Identity, did not find a "religion effect" for non-suicidal self-injury among sexual minority youth in Utah.
Lauren J. Joseph and Stephen Cranney published a targeted study that found that Latter-day Saints and ex-Latter-day Saints exhibited similar self-esteem levels.
[14]↩︎
"Suicide contagion" is a phenomenon where some ways of speaking about suicides publicly can contribute to more suicides.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services defined it as "the exposure to suicide or suicidal behaviors within one's family, one's peer group, or through media reports of suicide and can result in an increase in suicide and suicidal behaviors."
When reporting on suicide, the HHS advised factual, concise, and not repetitive reports and said:
Suicide is the result of many complex factors; therefore media coverage should not report oversimplified explanations such as recent negative life events or acute stressors. Reports should not divulge detailed descriptions of the method used to avoid possible duplication. Reports should not glorify the victim and should not imply that suicide was effective in achieving a personal goal such as gaining media attention.
- US Dept of Health & Human Services explains what suicide contagion is.
- A British Medical Journal article meta-analysis analyzed the literature on media reporting and suicide.
[15]↩︎
The CDC suggests ways for individuals and communities to help prevent suicide:
There are some individual characteristics and things we can do in communities that may help protect people from suicidal thoughts and behavior. There is not as much research about these protective factors as there is about risk factors, but identifying and understanding them is very important.
- Coping and problem-solving skills
- Cultural and religious beliefs that discourage suicide
- Connections to friends, family, and community support
- Supportive relationships with care providers
- Availability of physical and mental health care
- Limited access to lethal means among people at risk
- The CDC discusses suicide risk factors.
[16]↩︎
A recent, peer-reviewed literature review on the issue of media coverage and suicidality stated, "After more than forty years of intensive research, the epidemiological impact of suicide coverage can now reasonably be considered confirmed."
Multiple studies, many covered in the literature review, confirm that media reports may heighten the risk of suicide.
- Literature review of the effect of media on suicide contagion.
- A British Medical Journal article meta-analysis analyzed the literature on media reporting and suicide.
[17]↩︎
Michael Staley, the suicide prevention research coordinator in Utah's State Medical Examiner's Office, stated:
Anybody who reduces suicide or an explanation for our rate of suicide in any population to one or two things is sadly mistaken. I think that mentality is an impediment to us moving forward.
The Movement Advancement Project, a prominent LGBT Suicide Prevention NGO, explained:
DON’T attribute a suicide death to a single factor (such as bullying or discrimination) or say that a specific anti-LGBT law or policy will “cause” suicide. Suicide deaths are almost always the result of multiple overlapping causes, including mental health issues that might not have been recognized or treated. Linking suicide directly to external factors like bullying, discrimination or anti-LGBT laws can normalize suicide by suggesting that it is a natural reaction to such experiences or laws. It can also increase suicide risk by leading at-risk individuals to identify with the experiences of those who have died by suicide.