LGBTQ People Face a Mental Health Epidemic. Help Uncloseted Expose the Crisis
Spencer Macnaughton | Uncloseted Media Weekly Newsletter
Tomorrow is the first day of Mental Health Awareness Month. For me, this month is personal. I’ve struggled with crippling anxiety as early as 7 years old. Over time, that morphed into panic attacks where I genuinely believed my heart was going to explode and kill me and a depression that shattered my self-esteem. Looking back, I question whether my high school binge drinking and weed smoking, which once led me to the hospital with alcohol poisoning at 14 years old, was part of a teenage rite of passage or a response to an internal struggle. Today, I am so grateful to feel well thanks to an SSRI that works, a Klonopin prescription to get through flights, a regular workout regimen and—most importantly—a support system of family and friends who have my back and who love me not in spite of who I am, but because of it.
I started Uncloseted Media with the aim of telling stories to help alleviate pain for the millions of LGBTQ Americans and Canadians who are struggling.
Here are just a few stats to illustrate the intensity of the mental health epidemic queer people face right now:
In 2024, The Trevor Project found that 39% of LGBTQ youth had seriously considered suicide within the past year.
In 2021, 9% of LGBTQ youth reported being diagnosed with an eating disorder.
In Glisten’s 2025 National School Climate Survey, 62% of respondents reported facing harassment or assault at school based on their sexual orientation. 68% reported the same based on their gender identity or expression.
A review of studies from 31 countries found that 35.3% of LGBTQ people suffered from depressive disorders and 34.3% suffered from anxiety disorders.
Statistics Canada found that 3 in 10 LGBTQ people in the country reported their mental health to be fair or poor.
Uncloseted Media works every day to expose the actors fueling this epidemic. In the last year, we’ve documented the cruel history of Alliance Defending Freedom’s successful fight to overturn Colorado’s conversion therapy ban and how Google sends parents of LGBTQ kids to conversion therapy websites. We’ve also elevated the stories of trans people and their loved ones who’ve been overwhelmed by anxiety in light of the Trump administration’s threats to label the community as a national security threat. In Canada, we’ve exposed how the Danielle Smith’s government’s anti-trans policies have made some consider leaving the province. As one trans Albertan said, “We’re not just statistics. … There are real lives at stake. People are scared.”
We have also highlighted the faces of those plagued by the epidemic. The day before Trump axed the LGBTQ-specific option for the 988 suicide hotline, we profiled Genna Brown, a 15-year-old who used the hotline for support as a “self-loathing, suicidal kid who was under the impression that God hated [her] and [she] was gonna burn in hell.”
And over the next two weeks, we will publish stories that look at how the American healthcare system is failing trans kids and how even though Canada offers better mental health support than its southern neighbor, it is still not doing enough.
Without accountability journalism that uncovers these bad actors and without reporting that highlights the pain that the victims—often children—are experiencing, the crisis will only intensify.
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Ron DeSantis bans local governments from supporting Pride and DEI in Florida (PinkNews)
The bill, which was signed on 22 April, will stop local governments in the Sunshine State from “funding or promoting or taking official action as it relates to diversity, equity, and inclusion.”
US Supreme Court rejects parents’ appeal in Leon Schools pronoun case (USA Today)
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday rejected an appeal in a case involving the Leon County School District that inspired Florida’s new laws regarding the teaching of gender and sexuality in the classroom.
After a briefing from the Secret Service director, a top Senate Democrat says there’s “no indication” of a security lapse at the press gala event.
Councillor suspended for linking LGBT community with Hamas support (BBC)
Colin Kennedy made the remarks at a meeting of Ards and North Down Borough Council in 2023 during a debate on the Israel-Gaza war.
Over the next week, be on the lookout for new Uncloseted reporting:
🆕 SATURDAY: In November 2023, Russia designated the “international LGBT movement” as an extremist organization, paving the way for the government to crack down on the queer community. As the U.S. intensifies its own attacks, Hope Pisoni speaks with LGBTQ Russians and advocates about the repression they’ve faced and how they’ve been able to continue organizing in these conditions.
🆕 WEDNESDAY: Right after Trump’s second inauguration, I interviewed Peter Boykin, the founder of Gays for Trump, about why he supported the president. Now, after a year of relentless attacks from the President, I check back in with Boykin to see if he still stands by the administration.
Thanks for reading! Feel free to email me with questions, complaints and story ideas!
Spencer Macnaughton, Editor-In-Chief — spencer@unclosetedmedia.com
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