The number of Americans aged at least 13 years old who identify as transgender have doubled in the last five years.
A new study has shown just how rapidly the American trans youth population has grown from five years ago. The study results revealed that the number of teenagers and young adults in the U.S. who identify as transgender have in fact doubled in the last five years.
On Friday, the UCLA School of Law's Williams Institute, a think tank focused on sexual orientation and gender identity law and public policy research released a study that estimated the American trans youth population to be at 1.6 million today. The analysis used statistical modeling and health survey data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from 2017 to 2020.
The study revealed that adults who identify as transgender remained at 0.65 since a report in 2017, while there has been a major increase in the 13 to 24 age group. According to the study, 1.4% of Americans aged 13 to 17 and 1.3 of Americans aged 18 to 24 now idenitfy as transgender. In 2017, only 0.7% of both age groups identified as transgender. Combined, the two age groups are estimated to account for almost 700,000 individuals.
New Study Details growing American Trans Youth Population
The study's lead author, Jody Herman explained to Spectrum News that the growing American trans youth population can be attributed to several factors, including shifting population, improved awareness and education about trans individuals and gender identities, and increased social media. The study also found that the number of young transgender people is disproporniately large compared to the general American population.
The age group of 13 to 17 makes up 8% of the U.S. population but account for 18% of the number of transgender people. Meanwhile, the 18-24 age group make up 11% of the overall population but account for 24% of the transgender community. When it comes to geography, the state with the highest American trans youth population was New York, while New Jersey had the lowest with 0.87%. North Carolina had the highest percentage of adult transgender individuals with 0.87%, while West Virginia had the lowest with 0.4%.
Pew Research Study Offers Similar Results on American Trans Youth
This week, the Pew Research Center released new survey results that shows 1.6% of U.S. adults are transgender or nonbinary, which means their gender differs from their birth sex. The study also showed that adults aged 30 and below were more likely to identify as trans or nonbinary. Among those younger than 30, 5.1% said that they are trans or nonbinary, including 2% of trans men and or women and 3% nonbinary individuals.
Like the UCLA study, Pew Research also found that the share of young Americans who say they are transgender are high in adults who are younger than 25. This age group showed that 3.1% are trans, compared to just 0.5% in the 25 to 29 age group.
According to the World News Group however, a Summit Ministries survey showed that 64% of Americans believe that transgenderism is not a "health human condition," while 66% said that schools teaching gender identity and sexual orientation to elementary students is inappropriate or dangerous. Conservative commentator Allie Beth Stuckey argued that parents must "protect children from progressive social experiments" that are supported by the Biden administration's pro-transgender policies.
Related Article:Former Transgender Woman Reveals How Trans Kids Are 'Manufactured' And How Parents Can Prevent That From Happening
