The health and well-being of trans people in Australia
Although participants were offered and selected a wide range of gender identities, for the purpose of analysis respondents were categorised into five broad gender categories. Two fifths (43.5%; n = 2,948) of participants were categorised as cisgender women, 34.3% (n = 2,328) as cisgender men, 4.2% (n = 285) as trans women, 4.4% (n = 300) as trans men and 13.6% (n = 921) as non-binary. The PL3 survey was completed by 1,506 trans and gender diverse participants, more than five times the number of trans and gender diverse participants in PL2 (n = 285).
Trans and gender diverse participants reported higher rates of ever experiencing homelessness than cisgender participants. More than one third (34.3%; n = 103) of trans men, 33.8% (n = 311) of non-binary participants and (31.9%; n = 91) of trans women reported ever experiencing homelessness compared to 19.8% (n = 584) of cisgender women and 16.8% (n = 391) of cisgender men.
Two fifths (40.0%; n = 926) of cisgender men rated their health as very good or excellent compared to three in ten cisgender women (29.3%; n = 858), one quarter of trans women (26.3%; n = 75) and one fifth of trans men (19.8%; n = 59) and non-binary participants (20.1%; n = 184). [...]
A greater proportion of non-binary (AFAB) participants (47.0%; n = 317) reported poor or fair health compared to non-binary (AMAB) participants (35.7%; n = 70). Similarly, a smaller proportion of non-binary (AFAB) participants (18.7%; n = 126) reported very good or excellent health compared to non-binary (AMAB) participants (26.0%; n = 51). [...] A greater proportion of trans men (42.2.%; n = 126) reported poor or fair health compared to trans women (34.7%; n = 99). Similarly, a smaller proportion of trans men (19.8%; n = 59) reported very good or excellent health compared to trans women (26.3%; n = 75).
When analysed by gender, almost three quarters (75.8%; n = 222) of trans men, 65.6% (n = 185) of trans women and 74.9% (n = 674) of non-binary participants reported experiencing high or very high levels of psychological distress. This compared to 59.4% (n = 1,708) of cisgender women and 43.7% (n = 993) of cisgender men. [...]
Over three quarters (76.6%; n = 509) of non-binary (AFAB) participants reported high or very high levels of psychological distress compared to 69.3% (n = 133) of non-binary (AMAB) participants. [...]
Over three quarters (75.8%; n = 222) of trans men reported high or very high levels of psychological distress compared to 65.6% (n = 185) of trans women.
Six in ten (61.2%; n = 183) trans men, 58.3% (n = 165) of trans women and 61.4% (n = 562) of non-binary participants reported having seriously considered attempting suicide in the past 12 months compared to four in ten (39.8%; n = 1,168) cisgender women and 31.9% (n = 740) of cisgender men. Nine in ten (90.6%; n = 271) trans men, 86.2% (n = 244) of trans women and 89.9% (n = 823) of non-binary participants reported having ever seriously considered attempting suicide compared to 75.6% (n = 2,218) of cisgender women and 64.2% (n = 1,488) of cisgender men.
One in seven (13.7%; n = 36) trans men, 10.9% (n = 27) of trans women and 6.8% (n = 54) of non-binary participants reported having attempted suicide in the past 12 months compared to 4.2% (n = 76) of cisgender women and 3.3% (n = 56) of cisgender men. Over half (52.9%; n = 139) of trans men, 45.6% (n = 113) of trans women and 40.2% (n = 318) of non-binary participants reported having ever attempted suicide compared to 28.2% (n = 636) of cisgender women and 22.3% (n = 380) of cisgender men. [...]
Overall, non-binary (AMAB) and non-binary (AFAB) participants showed similar patterns with regard to suicidal ideation, with just over 60% reporting thoughts about suicide in the past 12 months. Four in ten (42.1%; n = 249) non-binary (AFAB) participants reported having ever attempted suicide compared to one third (32.9%; n = 53) of non-binary (AMAB) participants. [...]
More than nine in ten trans men (90.6%; n = 271) and 86.2% (n = 244) of trans women reported ever having thoughts about suicide. Approximately six in ten (61.2%; n = 183) trans men and 58.3% (n = 165) of trans women reported having thoughts about suicide in the past 12 months. Both trans women and trans men reported very high levels of suicide attempts, with more than half (52.9%; n = 139) of trans men and 45.6% (n = 113) of trans women reported having ever attempted suicide.
Experiences of physical violence from an intimate partner ranged from 21.3% (n = 432) among cisgender men to 28.5% (n = 243) among non-binary participants. More than half (52.0%; n = 443) of non-binary participants had experienced verbal harassment from an intimate partner, followed by 45.9% (n = 122) of trans men, 43.2% (n = 1,154) of cisgender women, 41.9% (n = 108) of trans women and 36.6% (n = 740) of cisgender men. More than three in ten non-binary (35.6%; n = 303) participants and trans men (30.5%; n = 81) had experienced sexual violence from an intimate partner, compared to 24.5% (n = 654) of cisgender women, 17.4% (n = 45) of trans women and 11.2% (n = 227) of cisgender men.
Almost four in ten (39.0%; n = 336) non-binary participants reported ever experiencing physical violence from a family member, followed by three in ten (30.9%; n = 89) trans men, one quarter (24.7%; n = 667) of cisgender women, one fifth (19.6%; n = 52) of trans women and 16.4% (n = 667) of cisgender men. Verbal abuse from a family member was experienced by almost six in ten (59.7%; n = 172) trans men and non-binary participants (58.1%; n = 501), four in ten trans women (42.5%; n = 113) and cisgender women (41.6%; n = 1,124) and three in ten (31.2%; n = 632) cisgender men. Sexual assault from a family member was experienced by three times as many non-binary participants (15.0%; n = 129) and trans men (14.6%; n = 42) compared to cisgender men (4.6%; n = 94).
More than one in ten (13.4%; n = 123) non-binary participants experienced sexual assault in the past 12 months, followed by 9.1% (n = 267) of cisgender women, 7.5% (n = 174) of cisgender men, 7.4% (n = 21) of trans women and 6.4% (n = 19) of trans men. More than six in ten (64.3%; n = 123) non-binary participants had ever experienced sexual assault compared to more than five in ten cisgender women (54.5%; n = 1,604) and trans men (54.9%; n = 164), 41.8% (n = 119) of trans women and 34.7% (806) of cisgender men.
Seven in ten (70.8%; n = 155) trans women agreed or strongly agreed that āMy sexual and romantic partners have affirmed my gender in ways that support meā, followed by 67.7% (n = 159) of trans men and 63.5% (n = 403) of non-binary participants. Four in ten trans women (43.2%; n = 111) and trans men (40.9%; n = 106) agreed or strongly agreed that āMy local community has affirmed my gender in ways that support meā compared to three in ten (29.7%; n = 201) non-binary participants. Nine in ten trans men (92.8%; n = 270) and trans women (90.7%; n = 253) agreed or strongly agreed that āHaving my gender identity affirmed by others (i.e., socially) has been a high priority for meā, followed by seven in ten (71.5%; n = 539) non-binary participants.
A higher proportion of trans men (83.1%; n = 236) agreed or strongly agreed that āGender affirming surgery has been a high priority for meā compared to trans women (61.4%; n = 164) and non-binary participants (31.6%; n = 184). More than twice as many trans men (94.5%; n = 277) and trans women (95.7%; n = 267) agreed or strongly agreed that āGender affirming hormonal therapy has been a high priority for meā than non-binary participants (41.5%; n = 246). Almost twice the proportion of trans men (49.5%; n = 142) and trans women (49.5%; n = 136) agreed or strongly agreed with the statement āI have been easily able to access gender affirming care when I have needed toā than non-binary participants (25.8%; n = 154).
A higher proportion of trans women (80.4%; n = 226) reported ever experiencing gender euphoria than trans men (72.9%; n = 212) or non-binary (63.3%; n = 489) participants. One in three (27.8%; n = 81) trans men, about one third (33.1%; n = 93) of trans women and 14.9% (n = 115) of non-binary participants reported currently experiencing gender euphoria.
from "Private Lives 3: The health and wellbeing of LGBTIQ people in Australia" (2020) by Adam Hill, Adam Bourne, Ruth McNair, Marina Carman, and Anthony Lyons of La Trobe University
(Note: this is not an exhaustive list of all the findings of this study; there is an image limit on Tumblr and this was also going to be long enough. While the samples for trans people in this study are smaller than much larger dedicated studies like the USTS, these findings are still valuable; Private Lives is the largest national survey of the health and well-being of LGBTIQ people in Australia. There is also a whole section on intersex people. I recommend people go check out the full study themselves).