Iowa LGBTQ+ youth say new laws hurt mental health
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Young LGBTQ+ Iowans polled by a local nonprofit and The Trevor Project said they experienced mental health issues and had considered leaving the state due to politics.
The big picture: The majority of respondents in each poll said they'd experienced anxiety, and more than half said they had plans to leave the state because of LGBTQ+-specific politics.
Driving the news: Iowa Safe Schools, a youth LGBTQ+ nonprofit, asked about 150 middle and high school students last fall via Google form about their experiences at school after a wide range of legislation targeting LGBTQ+ youth had passed.
- The Trevor Project, a national crisis intervention organization, surveyed 18,000 young people ages 13-24 nationwide, including in Iowa, between Sept. 13 and Dec. 16, 2023.
Flashback: A wide range of LGBTQ+-specific laws have passed in Iowa in recent years, including:
- Banning instruction on gender identity and sexual orientation before seventh grade
- Banning gender-affirming care for minors
- Prohibiting students and adults from using school bathrooms that don't align with their gender assigned at birth
- Requiring school officials to get permission from parents before using a student's chosen name
- Prohibiting transgender girls from participating in girls' high school and college sports.
What they're saying: Hannah Mitchell, director of youth engagement at Iowa Safe Schools, says the new laws have hurt students and teachers' comfort being openly LGBTQ+.
The other side: Gov. Kim Reynolds has said many of the laws are put in place to protect children and their "innocence" and to ensure equality in girls' sports.
- She also said there needs to be a pause to better understand "emerging therapies" for minors, including puberty blockers and gender-affirming surgeries.
By the numbers: More than 80% of surveyed students said they felt the new legislation had negatively affected their sense of safety at school, per Iowa Safe Schools.
- Over half said they dealt with bullying at school because of their LGBTQ+ identity.
- The majority had also lost access to LGBTQ+ affirming literature, and a quarter of students said they were told they couldn't discuss queer topics in class.
- 34% of LGBTQ+ young people seriously considered suicide in 2023, according to The Trevor Project.
While 85% of students surveyed by Iowa Safe Schools said they planned on staying in Iowa to finish high school, only 45% intended to stay in the state for college.
- After college graduation, they're unlikely to work in the state, 37% said.
- Just over half of young LGBTQ+ people said they or their families had considered leaving the state because of laws and policies, including 69% of transgender and nonbinary people, per The Trevor Project.
The bottom line: "Iowa is really at risk of losing future leaders, future workers and innovators — and they are probably going to other, more welcoming states," Mitchell says. "I think everyone should see that as an issue."