Community, connection, and care are essential for the LGBTQ+ community

There seemed to be no better month than Pride Month to discuss the findings from The Trevor Project’s recent 2025 U.S. National Survey on the Mental Health of LGBTQ+ Young People, which surveyed more than 16,000 LGBTQ+ people ages 13 to 24 across the United States. Personally, it was gut-wrenching to read some of the findings, which included:

• 36% of LGBTQ+ young people, and 40% of transgender and nonbinary respondents, seriously considered attempting suicide in the past year. According to The Trevor Project, “For the seventh year, the U.S. National Survey found that LGBTQ+ young people are too often placed at higher risk for suicide not because of who they are, but as a result of how they are mistreated and stigmatized.”

• 47% of LGBTQ+ young people reported experiencing recent symptoms of depression.

• 90% of LGBTQ+ young people said recent anti-LGBTQ+ laws, policies, and debates caused them stress or anxiety.

This comes at a time when the ACLU is tracking an unfathomable 530 anti-LGBTQ bills in the U.S. Yet, The Trevor Project study and other studies continue to depict how important safety, community, acceptance, and care are. In that same survey, The Trevor Project found that LGBTQ+ young people who reported living in very accepting communities attempted suicide at less than a third of the rate of those who reported living in very unaccepting communities.

Elsewhere, a cross-sectional survey of more than 40,000 individuals (15 and older) in Canada found that a stronger sense of community belonging alleviated the disparities in self-rated general health and depressive symptoms among gay men (Chai, 2023). As the authors noted, this aligns with other research on the role of community belonging in mitigating stressful experiences among socioeconomically disadvantaged groups. Another study, published in 2024 in the academic journal Race and Social Problems (Watts and Thrasher), found that community belongingness was associated with better mental health and well-being in Black LGBTQ+ adults.

Community, connection, care—this is the hill I’m willing to die on. It’s why I believe that now more than ever we need celebrations, events, spaces, and communities where LGBTQ+ people can safely gather together—during Pride Month and every other time of the year.

On a personal level, I’m so grateful and I’ve been so inspired by those in the LGBTQ+ community in Seattle who’ve been vulnerably showing up for First Tuesdays. RSVP for our next meetup here.

Happy Pride Month!