Youth's Lives Every Day
The new “report” goes against recommendations from every major medical association and calls for subjecting youth to the discredited practice of conversion therapy
May 1, 2025 – Today, The United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released a review of recommendations for transgender health care, based on an executive order issued by the President on January 28, 2025. The Trevor Project, the leading suicide prevention and crisis intervention organization for LGBTQ+ young people, released the following statement from Casey Pick (she/her), Director of Law and Policy at The Trevor Project in response:
“Every parent wants their child to be happy, healthy, and safe. It is deeply troubling to see the country’s top authority on health publish a collection of recommendations that seemingly have no basis in following established health care best practices, science, or input from providers who actually administer the type of health care in question. This report not only rejects health care best practices for transgender people — it goes a step further by recommending conversion therapy, though under a new, rebranded name, ‘exploratory therapy’. Despite the report’s claims, this is, in fact, the same harmful practice of conversion therapy, just using friendlier language.
“Claiming that transgender status can be changed is contrary to science and the guidance of every reputable U.S. medical association, and places unnecessary blame on parents, families, and communities that surround and support transgender people.
“Transgender status is an immutable trait like eye color or height, and using language that suggests otherwise perpetuates falsehoods and stereotypes. What this report is pushing is just the same dangerous, discredited conversion therapy by a different name – a long discredited and disproven set of practices forced on young people and their families that attempt to ‘change’ a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity. Research shows that youth who experienced conversion therapy were more than twice as likely to attempt suicide in the past year, compared to their peers.
“Gay people are gay. Transgender people are transgender. We urge this administration to respect and support people for who they are – and to let families and doctors make decisions based on what keeps people healthy, not government ideology.”
Relevant research:
- LGBTQ+ youth who experienced conversion therapy are more than twice as likely to attempt suicide and more than 2.5 times as likely to report multiple suicide attempts in the past year.
- Conversion therapy is associated with an extensive list of long-lasting social and emotional consequences, including: depression, anxiety, suicidality, substance abuse, a range of post-traumatic responses, loss of connection to community, damaged familial relationships, self-blame, guilt, and shame.
- The Trevor Project’s 2024 U.S. National Survey on the Mental Health of LGBTQ+ young people found that 13% of LGBTQ+ young people have been threatened with or subjected to conversion therapy.
- Every major medical and mental health association in the United States has condemned conversion therapy, including The American Psychiatric Association, The American Psychological Association, and The American Medical Association.
- A 2022 peer-reviewed study published in The Journal of Adolescent Health by researchers at The Trevor Project found gender-affirming hormone therapy was significantly related to lower rates of depression, suicidal thoughts, and suicide attempts among transgender and nonbinary young people.
- A 2024 peer-reviewed study published in Nature Human Behaviour found that anti-transgender state laws directly caused an increase in suicide attempts among transgender and nonbinary youth by up to 72%.
- The Trevor Project’s 2024 U.S. National Survey on the Mental Health of LGBTQ+ Young People found that an overwhelming 90% of LGBTQ+ youth said recent politics negatively impacted their well-being, and nearly half of transgender and nonbinary youth reported their families have considered moving to a different state because of LGBTQ+ politics and laws.
