Welcome to Trans Tuesday! This week we continue with more hard data on trans life in THE 2022 US TRANS SURVEY RESULTS, part 4! We’ve got satisfaction rates, numbers on detransitioners, and mental health!
A quick warning before we get into things: there will be some discussion of suicide rates and prevalence, and where that stems from in regards to trans people, as that’s one of the things the survey got a lot of data on. If that will be difficult for you, you may want to skip this essay.
All right, let’s dive in.
- 60% of respondents reported undergoing some form of medical transition, including hormones or surgeries. 88% of respondents expressed a desire for gender-affirming hormone therapy, but only 56% reported ever receiving hormone therapy. Among those who have started hormone therapy, 90% were currently taking hormones, indicating a high prevalence of continuation.
Oh shit, almost like it really works well for its intended purpose huh?
- 29% of respondents reported receipt of at least one gender-affirming surgery. 98% of respondents taking GAHT reported that taking GAHT made them more satisfied with their lives, and 97% of respondents who underwent gender-affirming surgery reported their surgery made them more satisfied with their lives.
NINETY-FUCKING-SEVEN PERCENT SATISFACTION RATE. Are you even kidding with these claims that it’s harmful? No other medical interventions or procedures have that high a satisfaction rate! Not even close.
Let this be your reminder that according to the World Journal of Surgery, the average regret rate for ALL surgeries for ALL people is 14.4%! For trans people the regret rate is less than one percent.
Gender affirming care fucking works.
But what about detransitioners? So glad you asked.
- All respondents currently identified as trans and nonbinary, but 9% had gone back to living as their sex assigned at birth at least for a little while at some point in their lives due to challenges related to social acceptance.
Emphasis is mine there, but bigoted cis people are the reason for those 9% who detransitioned.
- Respondents primarily reported social and structural reasons for living as their sex assigned at birth. For example, the most common reason was that it was “just too hard to be transgender in [their] community.” Other common reasons included pressure from a parent and experiencing too much harassment or discrimination.
Bigoted cis people making our lives miserable. The biggest hurdle we face.
But what about people who detransition because they’re not actually trans? Shouldn’t we worry about them and make transition care harder to access? For their safety, never mind the horrible impact putting more barriers between actual trans people and our transition care causes, I guess?
- Of all respondents who had medically transitioned, only 0.36% went back to living in their sex assigned at birth at least for a while because gender transition was not for them.
Zero
Point
Three
Six
Percent
!
Not even half of one percent! Should detransitioners who are not actually trans, and are cis people who made a mistake, or are trans but discover transition isn’t right for them, be supported? Absolutely. Should their mistake be held against the 99.64% of people who are trans and need it?
AB-SO-LUTE-LY NOT.
For those trans and nonbinary people who needed access to abortion-related care:
- 37% were unable to find abortion providers who knew about trans healthcare
And because they were trans:
- I didn’t feel welcome in an abortion providers office/clinic – 79%
Provider used harsh or abusive language – 38%
I was verbally harassed by staff or others at the provider’s office – 32%
Provider refused – 24%
Provider was physically rough with me – 15%
I want to point out this wasn’t them seeking abortion-related care from places who won’t provide abortions for a multitude of bad reasons, this was them going to abortion-care providers who you’d think would be more accepting of trans people. But even there, we see transphobia is a huge issue that cannot be escaped.
Let’s take a look at some data about trans people and our mental health.
- 44% of respondents met the criteria for serious psychological distress, compared to less than 4% of the general U.S. population. A majority (81%) of respondents indicated that they felt down, depressed or hopeless at least several days over the past two weeks (prior to taking the survey). Three-quarters (77%) reported little interest or pleasure in doing things at least several of the days over the past two weeks (prior to taking the survey).
Look at what societal transphobia does to us. We experience over TEN TIMES MORE PSYCHOLOGICAL DISTRESS than the general population!
I pale at the thought of where those numbers are in 2025.
- In the year prior to the survey, 38% of respondents considered suicide. Of those who considered suicide, 41% made corresponding plans. These numbers are dramatically higher than the general population’s at 5% and 1% respectively. Victimization, such as being verbally harassed, denied equal treatment or service for any reason, such as at a place of business, government agency, or public place, or physically attacked, was associated with greater suicidality.
- 31% of those who had no victimization considered suicide in the past year, compared to 50% for those who were verbally harassed, 53% for those who were denied equal treatment, and 63% for those who were physically assaulted. 78% of respondents considered suicide and 40% attempted suicide at some point in their lifetime. These statistics far exceed the 13.2% and 2.4% reported for the general population.
All of that, all of it, is due to transphobia and cisgender bigots.
It’s not being trans that’s difficult, it’s the way cis society treats you when you’re trans that’s so hard to deal with. (GENDER DYSPHORIA is horrible, but if we’re supported and affirmed right away and aren’t forced to live with it for a lifetime, we can immediately do things to address it).
Really take that in and sit with it, cis folks, and let it inspire you to stand up for us when you know we need you to, because we need you to.
- While 78% of respondents wanted counseling for gender identity or transition, only 48% received mental healthcare for it. Among respondents who discussed gender identity with a counselor, 12% reported that their mental healthcare provider tried to persuade them to identify only as their sex assigned at birth. Notably, this was much higher (50%) among those who consulted with religious counselors or therapists.
- In [the survey’s] sample, 44% of respondents meet the criteria for Serious Psychological Distress. According to the National Health Interview Survey, less than 4% of the general U.S. adult population met the criteria for SPD.
I don’t even know what to say about this. I’m so mad. So mad.
It is important to note that SPD was more common in younger trans folks, and more common in AFAB nonbinary people and trans men than any other groups.
- The [survey] sample had 6 times the prevalence of past-year suicidal ideation compared to the general population (38% vs. 5%) Further, 16% of [survey] respondents made a plan to attempt suicide, substantially higher than the 1% reported in the general population.
Research suggests that structural factors like state- level discriminatory laws and policies, as well as stigma and hostile sociopolitical climates, contribute to the disproportionately high prevalence of suicidality seen among the trans and nonbinary community.
When trans people tell you that these transphobic laws stripping us of our rights, our healthcare, our ability to exist in public will result in dead trans people, that’s not hyperbole. It is legislative violence.
Living with that kind of oppression is too much for some people to handle, and more importantly no one should ever have to try to handle it.
- Research focused on trans and nonbinary people have found that social support may be one of the most important factors in reducing suicidal thoughts and suicide attempts. Supportive families may play a crucial role in the wellbeing of USTS respondents. The survey asked respondents who were out to their family how supportive their immediate family was. Those with supportive families reported less suicidality compared to those with unsupportive families: 78% vs. 85% for ever considering suicide and 38% vs. 51% for ever attempting suicide.
Supporting us, standing up for us, standing with us? It’s literally life-saving. We need you.
- 72% of medically transitioned and 71% of socially transitioned respondents were “Very to pretty happy” compared to 55% and 52% of those who had not medically or socially transitioned, respectively.
- Medically and socially transitioned respondents were thriving more (37% and 36%, respectively) compared to those who had not transitioned (19% and 18%, respectively).
- Respondents who had medically or socially transitioned reported substantially higher life satisfaction (43% and 43%, respectively), compared to 27% and 24% among those who had not medically or socially transitioned, respectively.
Medical transition (for those who want it) works.
Medical transition works!
IT WORKS!
- Happiness levels varied substantially by social and medical transition status: nearly three-quarters of those who had medically transitioned reported being “Very to pretty happy” (72%) compared to over half of those who had not (55%); those who had socially transitioned also report higher happiness (71%) compared to roughly half of those who had not (52%).
Even socially transitioning shows a huge increase in quality of life and happiness!
These 2022 US Trans Survey results are so important, because it’s evidence of what trans people have been saying for… well, forever really.
We know who we are and transitioning, socially and medically, works.
And withholding it from us, legislating against it because it makes you uncomfortable, because it proves cishetero patriarchal white supremacy is founded on lies, is cruel and unconscionable.
Hopefully you already knew that. If you didn’t, now you do.
And we’ve got the data to back it up.
Tilly Bridges, end transmission.
tillysbridges@gmail.com