LGBTQ youth are more openly sharing their orientation, still experience high rates of suicidal thoughts

More sexual minorities are sharing their sexual orientation in youth surveys now than a decade ago, and these individuals still have a high rate of suicide attempts compared to the rest of the population. Using data from six states, one study found that in 2009, around 7% of sexual minorities shared their orientation, but that doubled by 2017. Although suicide attempts in this population declined over the study duration, their rate of attempts in 2017 was still three times higher than among heterosexual youth. This trend was further supported by another 23-year study among Massachusetts youth: Suicidal ideation declined among sexual minorities, but 33%-40% still reported those experiences. In a related commentary, scientists write that more research is needed to identify specific interventions to help narrow the suicide-related disparities between sexual minority youth and their heterosexual peers.