A new study casts doubt on the link between gender-neutral laws and suicide attempts among young people

Scientists have cast doubt on the findings of a high-profile study that linked the passage of laws restricting transgender transition to an increase in suicide attempts among young people. The Trevor Project had previously reported a 72 percent increase in suicide attempts among transgender and non-binary teenagers in states that had enacted such restrictions, according to LifeSiteNews.

However, a critical analysis published in the journal *Nature Human Behaviour* points to serious methodological flaws in the original study. Kathleen Kerr, a co-author of the rebuttal study and director of biostatistics at the University of Washington, noted that the high-profile conclusions about the negative impact of the laws were based primarily on data from a single state — Idaho, where the relevant measures restricting participation in sports based on birth status either never took effect or were blocked by the courts. The authors also criticize the selection of control groups, which did not account for cultural and geographic differences between states.

The publication also notes that the scientific community is increasingly skeptical of the concept of “gender-affirming” therapy. In particular, the 2024 British Cass Review characterized the evidence base in the field of “gender medicine” as extremely weak. Additional data from Finland confirm high rates of psychiatric disorders among individuals who have undergone hormonal or surgical gender reassignment, which calls into question the safety of such interventions for minors.