New data has shed light on the positive and life-saving effects of using the correct pronouns for trans and non-binary youth.
On 10 December, The Trevor Project shared their new study, ‘Pronoun Usage and Mental Health Impacts of Pronoun Respect in TGNB Young People.’
As the title suggests, the report explores why it’s essential to respect and use the pronouns requested by trans and non-binary youth.
According to the informative data, which was collected through The Trevor Project’s 2024 US National Survey on the Mental Health of LGBTQ+ Young People, trans and non-binary youth whose pronouns were respected had lower rates of past-year suicide attempts (11%) compared to those whose pronouns were not respected (17%).
Less than half of trans and non-binary young people (46%) reported that a lot, most, or all of the people in their lives respected their pronouns.
At the same time, trans and non-binary youth who use binary pronouns (she/her, he/him) reported higher levels of pronoun respect (62%) than those who use a combination of binary and non-binary terms, solely non-binary pronouns, or other pronouns (38%).
When examining pronoun respect across demographics, researchers found that older trans and non-binary individuals aged 18 to 24 were more likely to report pronoun respect (51%) than those aged 13 to 17 (41%).
View this post on Instagram
Amongst the different racial and ethnic groups, Middle Eastern/North African (57%) and White (48%) trans and non-binary young people reported higher rates of pronoun respect.
52% of Trans boys/men and 48% of trans girls/women said their pronouns were respected compared to individuals questioning their gender (40%) and non-binary individuals (37%).
Lastly, 32% of trans and non-binary young people reported exclusive use of he/him, she/her pronouns, while 68% said they used they/them, a combination of binary and non-binary terms or other gender expressing pronouns.
In an interview with The Advocate, the study’s lead researcher, Steven Hobaica, offered further insight into the data and why respecting trans and non-binary youth’s pronouns is crucial to their thriving.
“When we don’t respect someone’s request to call them by the name that they go by or the pronouns that they use, that is actively disrespecting their sense of self, their dignity, and the fact that the vast majority of people in the world do not have a problem respecting someone’s nickname or respecting a cisgender person who does change their name like that,” he explained.
“There’s this idea that people think that youth can’t know themselves, and that’s just not true. All data that we have on this topic, as well as our own lived experiences with identity, where many of us have firm understandings of our identity at very young ages.”
You can read The Trevor Project’s ‘Pronoun Usage and Mental Health Impacts of Pronoun Respect in TGNB Young People’ report here.
View this post on Instagram
