Transgender and nonbinary (TGNB) young people whose pronouns are respected are far less likely to report a suicide attempt in the past year, according to new research from The Trevor Project.

The nonprofit, which provides crisis support services, research and advocacy for LGBTQ+ young people, found that 11 percent of TGNB youth who said their pronouns are respected reported a suicide attempt, compared to 17 percent of those who said their pronouns were not respected.

The data comes from the nonprofit’s 2024 national survey on the mental health of LGBTQ+ young people, which included responses from more than 12,000 TGNB youth ages 13 to 24.

Fewer than half of the TGNB young people surveyed said their pronouns were respected by most or all of the people in their lives.

“People often see pronoun respect as something that’s political and not something that’s necessary,” said Dr. Steven Hobaica, the lead research scientist on the report. “When really, at its core, it’s about respect, understanding, listening, being kind, and this simple, concrete way of showing support can be life-saving for trans and nonbinary young people.”

“So when we think about how that relates to suicide risk, if we cannot imagine that life is going to be comfortable or safe, it can sometimes make someone feel like life is not worth living,” Hobaica said.

Among TGNB young people, about 32 percent said they use binary pronouns, such as he/him or she/her. The remaining 68 percent said they use nonbinary pronouns including they/them, a combination of binary and nonbinary pronouns like he/they or she/they, or another pronoun to express their gender.

Those who selected “another pronoun” were able to specify their pronouns in the survey, and the most frequently mentioned were it/its, variations of xe/xi, and variations of ze/zi.

Hobaica said it’s important to highlight TGNB young people who selected “another pronoun” because they had low rates of pronoun respect compared to those who used binary or nonbinary pronouns such as they/them.

“This isn’t just a thing that the kids are doing nowadays,” Hobaica said. “They’re a group that has a high risk for a lack of pronoun respect, and given that that’s related to suicide risk, this feels like a group that we don’t want to forget about.”

The Findings

The report found that more than half of older TGNB young people (18–24) reported that their pronouns were respected, compared to about 40 percent of TGNB young people (13–17).

“One of the big driving factors is that 18- to 24-year-olds have a lot more freedom to choose who they’re engaging and interacting with,” Hobaica said. “Whether that is due to being in college and having more time to themselves and building their own community.”

Middle Eastern and North African TGNB young people reported the highest rates of pronoun respect at nearly 60 percent, followed by about 50 percent of white TGNB young people.

Hobaica said the differences according to race and culture were likely “based on exposure to the topic itself, exposure to trans and nonbinary people in their circles, or in the media they consume.”

Nearly 70 percent of heterosexual TGNB young people and about 50 percent of gay TGNB young people reported pronoun respect at higher rates than those of other sexual orientations.

Hobaica emphasized that heterosexual youth from the report “are still trans and nonbinary young people who identify as heterosexual.”

“So if we think about trans and nonbinary people who identify as heterosexual or gay, and what that might mean about their gender identity, then we can expect that they’re in gender identity groups that have higher rates of pronoun respect as well,” Hobaica said.

In addition, about half of transgender boys and men and nearly half of transgender girls and women said their pronouns were respected, compared with about 40 percent of youth questioning their gender and nearly 40 percent of nonbinary youth.

“It very likely ties into … how pronoun respect varies based on whether they’re using binary versus nonbinary pronouns,” Hobaica said. “It’s not that all of them will use binary pronouns, but it is possible that they’re more frequently using binary pronouns, which are more often respected than individuals who are questioning or identify as nonbinary.”

The Takeaway

Hobaica said it’s essential for schools to be intentional about building environments that respect students’ pronouns.

“This is a place where students spend the vast majority of their time and of their life,” Hobaica said. “Making sure that schools understand the importance of calling someone by their name and the pronouns they use can not only impact their mental health and suicide risk, it can also impact their ability to perform well in school.”

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