A "groundbreaking" study published by Nature Human Behavior claiming to find that “anti-transgender laws increased incidents of past-year suicide attempts” among teens by as much as 72 percent is being debunked, as scientific reexamination revealed faulty methodology. The published study came from the far-left nonprofit organization known as the Trevor Project, whose previous surveys have been discredited for omitting basic clinical methods.
Another Major Transgender Suicide Study Crumbles
— Leor Sapir (@LeorSapir) June 16, 2026
A widely cited study published in the prestigious @NatureHumBehav claimed that “anti-transgender laws” encouraged teen suicide attempts.
A new methodological review dismantles that finding.
New from me in @cityjournal pic.twitter.com/Vy9WdHyITy
In a statement to CNN, Ronita Nath, the study's co-author said, "We’ve long known that the associations between anti-transgender policies and negative health outcomes for LGBTQ+ young people exist, but this is the first time any study has shown this causal relationship.” After being amplified in a Trevor Project press release, the findings were reported in several big-time publications including NPR, The Hill, The Washington Post, CNN, Time, and multiple medical journals. Academic papers and policy briefs frequently cited the study as an argument against the passage of anti-trans laws. The American Psychiatric Association frequently cited the reported 72 percent suicide rate increase in continuing medical education.
A year after the study was published, City Journal reported that NHB published a peer-reviewed critique by Cohn et al., revealing that the 72 percent statistic came from a single state with a sample size of only 60-100 youth. Additionally, the study was conducted before the said "anti-trans" law or any relevant law was in place. Internal checks were flawed too. When researchers tested their model against homelessness and employment rates (things which the law couldn't plausibly affect), it returned false positives during the same period that produced the 72 percent figure, suggesting outside factors may be driving the effect, as reported by the Society For Evidence-Based Gender Medicine. Evidence of author bias was also present throughout, referring to laws banning biological men in women's sports as "anti-trans."
The Trevor Project reportedly responded to Cohn et al.'s re-examination, affirming Idaho's relevance to the study, but failed to address the fact that no relevant laws were in place at the time of the study. "The concerns raised by Cohn et al. do not alter the interpretation of our findings," the Trevor Project asserted. The SEGM highlighted their other responses, explaining why they fall short of clearing up the study's mishaps.
This reveal comes as part of a larger trend occurring in modern medicine. In 2022, the U.K. published the Cass Review, a narrative-shattering study that found no evidence suggesting 'gender-affirming care' procedures have a positive mental health effect, or that suicide rates decrease post-care. The findings revealed that several foundational studies (Trevor Project surveys, New England Journal of Medicine, etc.) claiming a positive correlation between gender-affirming care and mental health improvement lacked clinical procedures like control groups, sample sizes, and reporting methods. Despite their clear flaws, those studies had been heavily referenced by the AMA and the APA and used in drafting progressive LGBTQ legislation.
The implications of a faulty study are significant, and the pattern is repeating. Not only is policy and legislation drafted using incorrect data, but public opinion gets skewed, and more individuals are tricked into believing the lies of the transgender ideology. Medical journals and organizations must do better to ensure they are conducting clinical, fair studies without political bias to ensure the data that will shape our society is true and honest.