LGBTQ+ young people are politically engaged — but it's complicated

The majority of young LGBTQ+ people are motivated to take political action — but their motivation often goes hand in hand with anxiety and depression, according to a new Trevor Project research brief, “Civic Engagement, Political Concerns, and Mental Health Among LGBTQ+ Young People.”

Using data from the Trevor Project’s 2024 U.S. National Survey on the Mental Health of LGBTQ+ Young People, the brief, released Wednesday, notes that 60 percent of respondents felt motivated to take some action in the previous year, such as volunteering, contributing money, attending a political event, or contacting a government official. Forty-four percent said they had at least one LGBTQ-related political concern. The 18,663 LGBTQ+ young people who responded to the survey were recruited via ads on social media.

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The data was collected at the end of 2023, so it’s “independent of the current political environment,” Derrick Matthews, director of research science at the Trevor Project, tells The Advocate. Anti-LGBTQ+ and especially anti-transgender rhetoric and legislation were becoming widespread at the time, but the environment has become even more hostile during Donald Trump’s second term as president. It wouldn’t be surprising if the rate of political engagement has gone up since the survey was taken, Matthews says.

What was surprising about the data was the association of political engagement with mental health concerns, he says. Engagement is usually associated with positive mental health outcomes, he points out, but that wasn’t the case with this sample.

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Association doesn’t equal causality, the report emphasizes. “However, we do know that in order for LGBTQ+ young people to be able to access and fully participate in civic and political actions, we must work to create supportive and inclusive spaces that recognize how politics affect the mental health of marginalized youth,” the brief states. “We must also prioritize removing systemic barriers to political engagement, so LGBTQ+ young people can be involved in shaping a future that reflects their unique lived experiences.”

Matthews suspects that political activism doesn’t cause anxiety and depression; rather, he says, it’s likely that young LGBTQ+ people who become active are already upset about what’s going on in politics. “A lot of these young folks are motivated by the anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric and policy,” he says.

Motivation varied among various groups in the survey. Respondents identifying as queer or lesbian were most likely to report feeling motivated to take action, while trans and nonbinary respondents reported motivation at a higher rate than their cisgender peers. Trans and nonbinary Americans have been sounding the alarm about the state of the nation for some time, Matthews notes.

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The respondents ranged in age from 13 to 24. Among those old enough to vote — aged 18 to 24 — 80 percent were registered. Those who were able to meet their basic needs were registered at a higher rate than those who weren’t. Queer and lesbian respondents had the highest rates of registration, while cisgender respondents were more likely to be registered than their trans and nonbinary peers. White and multiracial young people had higher registration rates than other racial or ethnic groups. Registration was highest in the northeastern U.S., lowest in the South.

These differences may be due to some barriers — for instance, trans and nonbinary youth might have trouble obtaining accurate identification, Matthews says. And the lower registration rate in the South may indicate a need for additional support for LGBTQ+ young people there, he says.

All LGBTQ+ youth deserve to have their concerns taken seriously, he adds, so it’s crucial to create safe and inclusive spaces for them. The data is encouraging in that it shows high rates of political engagement among LGBTQ+ young people, but some might feel the system is not working for them, he says.