Number of adolescents who identify as transgender has doubled in five years

AP Photo/ Oliver de Ros

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The number of adolescents who identify as transgender has almost doubled over the past five years. 

A new report published by the Williams Institute which is based at the UCLA School of Law found that the number of teenagers between the ages of 13 to 17 who identify as transgender is almost twice the figure it was in 2017.

In that year, researchers at the Williams Institute estimated that around 0.7% of younger teens identified as trans. The figure makes up roughly around 150,000. Now the estimation has gone up to 300,000.

“The percentage and number of adults who identify as transgender in the U.S. has remained steady over time,” the Williams Institute found. “Our estimate of the number of youth who identify as transgender has doubled from our previous estimate.” 

In comparison to older adults, adolescents make up a disproportionate number of people who identify as transgender in the United States. 

Around 43% of the 1.6 million estimated transgender people living in the United States are young adults or teenagers, with one in five being minors aged 13 to 17. 

18% of people who identify as transgender is between the ages of 13 to 17, despite only 8% of people in the United States population falling within that age range. Similarly, young adults between the ages of 18 to 24, making up slightly under a quarter of the total transgender population, young adults in that age bracket only make up 11% of the total U.S. population.

Around 1.4% of all teenagers between the ages of 13 to 17 identify as transgender, followed by 1.3% of adults ages 18 to 24. In contrast, only 0.5% of adults identify as transgender. Likewise, seniors over the age of 65 who make up 20% of the population, only make up 10% of the total transgender population in the U.S.

The Williams Institute's study is based on data provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, and the Youth Risk Behavior Survey.

Despite the ongoing push for transgender acceptance, which includes “gender affirming” surgery and therapies, some medical professionals are now speaking up and warning of the irreversible damage they cause to children who undergo hormone therapy and sex change operations.

In Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis may be poised to ban gender transition surgeries and hormone therapy for minors. The state’s Surgeon General, Joseph Ladapo, who oversees the Health Department, slammed the Biden administration’s “unscientific shift” on transgender policies.