DEEP DIVE: Why Trans People Are 10 Times More Likely to Attempt Suicide

The numbers are heart-breaking: 46% of trans men and 42% of trans women in the U.S. report having attempted suicide, vs. 10-20% of gays & lesbians and 4.6% of the population overall.

Now, a new report by the Williams Institute, an LGBT think tank, and the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention helps tease out what factors — beyond the obvious, such as mental illness — make some trans people more vulnerable than others.

One key finding: Being physically or sexually assaulted in school is a huge risk factor for attempted suicide.

So is being homeless or estranged from your family. Younger, less well-educated trans people are also more likely to try to take their own lives.

In contrast, one significant factor that seems to protect against suicide: not being recognized by others as transgender or gender non-conforming.

The results offer plenty of evidence that making life easier for transgender kids — for example, with policies that let them use school facilities according to their gender identity — could greatly reduce their long-term risk.

The report is a new analysis of data collected in the 2011 National Transgender Discrimination Survey, conducted by the National Center for Transgender Equality and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force and available here.