Survey: 50% of young LGBTQ+ people in Mexico have considered suicide

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Survey: 50% of young LGBTQ+ people in Mexico have considered suicide

Illustration of the colors of the LGBTQ Pride flag projected over the silhouette of a teenager. A new poll shows more than half the young people in Mexico who identify as LGBTQ+ have seriously considered suicide, indicating a mental health crisis among millions of people in the country.

The big picture: The data from The Trevor Project’s Mexico office shows the work that needs to be done even as Mexico has made strides in LGBTQ+ inclusion.

  • Equal marriage is recognized nationally, and the Mexican Supreme Court has ruled it is unconstitutional for authorities not to recognize the gender identities of trans people, including youths.
  • There’s also been growing public acceptance and popularity of LGBTQ+ figures such as Wendy Guevara, a trans woman and reality TV star, and Guillermo Barraza, a drag artist who just premiered a newscast on a public broadcast channel.

Yes, but: Mexico also has a high rate of hate crimes against LGBTQ+ people and there’s recently been a series of murders of transgender people.

  • There are no national government statistics tracking such crimes, but the NGO Letra S estimates that the violent-crime rates are 15 murders of transgender women per 100,000 people and 4.2 murders of gay men per 100,000 people.

Zoom in: Established in 2022, the Mexico office for the Trevor Project last year asked more than 10,000 people about their mental health and feelings of acceptance among peers and family in the inaugural poll.

  • 57% of LGBTQ+ individuals ages 12 to 17 said they seriously considered suicide in the last year, and 46% of respondents ages 18 through 24 said the same.
  • Less than a fifth of those polled (22%) said they felt their home accepts LGBTQ+ identities, while a third (34%) said they’d been fully accepted after coming out.
  • The poll was carried out in association with the National Autonomous University of Mexico and nonprofits Infancias Trans and Yaaj México.
  • The Mexican Census office estimates 1 out of every 20 Mexicans, or at least 5 million people, self-identifies as LGBTQ+.

What they’re saying: The data “underscore the urgency of developing effective mental health support and proactive suicide prevention strategies for LGBTQ+ young people in México,” The Trevor Project report says.

If you or someone you know is having thoughts of suicide, call or text 988. Ayuda disponible en español. You can also text HOME to 741741 for help in English and Spanish, or send a WhatsApp message to The Trevor Project’s bilingual service at +52 55-9225-3337.