Nearly one in 20 American high school students is trans or confused about their gender, according to an official report, the first of its kind.
The CDC survey, which interviewed 20,000 children ages 14 to 18, found that 3.3 percent of children said they identified as transgender, while another 2.2 percent said they were unsure. their gender.
The report, based on data from 2023, also found much higher rates of feelings of sadness and bullying among transgender or gender-questioning teens than boys or girls.
The finding is much higher than the previous figure that estimated 1.4 percent of teenagers in the United States were transgender.
Nearly one in 20 American high school students are trans or confused about their gender (file image)
The CDC released this chart along with its report.
Similar data in the UK suggests that the prevalence of transgender people is highest among 16- to 17-year-olds, where around one in 600 people identify as such. in 2018.
The new estimates were based on the CDC’s Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System, which surveys a representative sample of high school students nationwide every two years.
The 2023 survey was the first to ask teens if they identified as transgender.
Kathleen Ethier, director of the CDC’s division of school and adolescent health, described the survey results as “heartbreaking.”
“We have five percent of young people in the country who, because of the way they identify with their gender, are stigmatized, harassed, made to feel unsafe, disengaged at school and, as a result, have worse mental health and a higher risk of suicide than their cisgender peers.’ she said.
The results also showed that about 70 percent of transgender students reported persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness, compared to 50 percent of girls and 26 percent of boys.
And only 37 percent of transgender students said they were likely to feel close to others at school, compared to 62 percent of boys and half of girls.
This shows that transgender children or those who question their gender identity were more likely to suffer harm than others.
Children were also asked about suicides: One in four transgender children said they had attempted suicide in the past year, compared to 11 percent of girls and five percent of boys.
Ten percent of transgender children said they had received medical treatment from a doctor or nurse for a suicide attempt in the past year, compared to 2.6 percent of girls and one percent of boys.
The survey came at a time of heightened political tension around the issue and a series of bans on procedures on minors in red states.
More than 25 states have already banned some procedures for minors, while others have made it emphatically clear that the procedures will never be banned for those under 18.
A 2022 report from the Williams Institute in Los Angeles estimated that 1.4 percent of children were trans based on data collected in 15 states in 2017 and 2019.
Institute researchers said the new numbers appeared to align with trends recorded at their own institute, with more young people identifying as transgender over time.