Health Disparities Facing Transgender and Gender Nonconforming Youth Are Not Inevitable.

Abstract

* Abbreviation: TGNC — : transgender and gender nonconforming Although reports of health disparities are sobering, poor physical and mental health is not inevitable for transgender and gender nonconforming (TGNC) youth. It is true that data from a retrospective cohort study quantify disparities in mental health outcomes, revealing a two- to threefold increase in the risk of negative mental health outcomes in transgender youth, including depression, suicidal ideation, and suicide attempt.1 It is also true that the National Transgender Discrimination Survey, which is administered to adults, revealed the disheartening statistic that 41% of TGNC respondents had attempted suicide in their lifetimes in contrast with ∼1.6% of the general population who have done so.2 However, research that is focused on well-supported TGNC youth helps dispel the idea that simply being transgender is the cause of poor health outcomes. For example, long-term outcome data from the Netherlands demonstrate that children with gender dysphoria who were treated in a comprehensive gender center with gender-affirming treatment during … Address correspondence to Daniel Shumer, MD, MPH, Division of Pediatric Endocrinology, Department of Pediatrics, University of Michigan, 1500 E Medical Center Dr, SPC 5718 D1205 MPB, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-5718. E-mail: dshumer{at}med.umich.edu