The Trevor Project released new research today about the mental health of intersex individuals, revealing the worrisome fact that 33% of LGBTQ+ intersex young people have either been subjected to or threatened with conversion therapy at some point in their lives, a higher rate than the 12% of endosex (as in, not intersex) LGBTQ+ youth who said the same. The survey shows an increased rate of attempted suicide among queer intersex youth.
The data, coming from the 2024 U.S. National Survey on the Mental Health of LGBTQ+ Young People, analyzes survey responses from intersex people between the ages of 13 and 24. 13% of intersex youth report having been subjected to conversion therapy, while 20% have been threatened with it.
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Additionally, 77% of intersex young people report that someone in their life has tried to change their LGBTQ+ identity, compared to 56% of endosex LGBTQ+ individuals. The people who tried to do this include parents, school faculty, and healthcare providers.
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Increasingly troubling is the fact that conversion therapy attempts are associated with a significantly increased risk of attempted suicide. 43% of LGBTQ+ intersex youth subjected to conversion therapy report attempting suicide within the last year, compared to 22% of LGBTQ+ intersex individuals who were not subjected to conversion therapy.
55% of intersex LGBTQ+ young people report considering suicide within the past year, compared to 39% of endosex LGBTQ+ individuals. 25% of intersex LGBTQ+ young people report having attempted suicide, compared to 11% of endosex LGBTQ+ young people.
The data shows that roughly 11% of intersex youth have received an invasive surgery that they did not consent to in order to conform to normative standards of sex, typically before the age of one. 17% report ever receiving such surgery – with or without their consent – and this led to higher rates of suicide attempts, at 34% compared to their intersex peers who had not received such surgery, at 18%, among intersex LGBTQ+ youth.
“Rates of attempting suicide were higher among intersex LGBTQ+ young people who had undergone a surgery which altered their anatomy and/or organs to fit normative expectations, compared to their intersex LGBTQ+ peers who had not undergone such a procedure. This discrepancy highlights the long-lasting harm and psychological damage which can be caused by medical attempts to ‘cure’ intersex individuals,” the study says.
According to the survey, 73% of intersex LGBTQ+ individuals report increased symptoms of anxiety, compared to 66% of endosex LGBTQ+ individuals. The rates of depression, though, were about the same; 55% of intersex young people report experiencing recent symptoms of depression, compared to 53% of endosex LGBTQ+ individuals.
The data also reveals that the vast majority of intersex individuals have an LGBTQ+ identity in addition to being intersex. Most of these young people identified as gay, asexual, or bi+ in some way, and only 2% of intersex LGBTQ+ youth said they were straight. 75% of intersex individuals in the sample identified as transgender or nonbinary, with 19% identifying as cisgender and the remaining percentage questioning their identity.
The survey also shows where their specific gender identities lie. “Specifically, 45% of intersex LGBTQ+ young people identified as nonbinary, 20% as transgender men or boys, 11% as cisgender women and girls, 10% as transgender women and girls, and 7% as cisgender boys and men,” says the Trevor Project.
The survey data comes from the broader 2024 U.S. National Survey on the Mental Health of LGBTQ+ Young People. 1.4% of participants in that survey were intersex individuals. 256 intersex individuals participated in the study and were recruited through targeted ads. The Trevor Project emphasizes that this data does not apply to straight and cisgender individuals who do not identify under the LGBTQ+ umbrella due to their exclusion from the survey.
Validated questions were asked of the sample, with many of the mental health questions taken from other surveys on the topic.
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