Translational Issues in Psychological Science, Vol 11(1), Mar 2025, 6-17; doi:10.1037/tps0000419
Suicide among transgender and gender diverse (TGD) people in the United States remains a critical public health concern. Previous literature has examined key individual-level factors that decrease the likelihood of suicide among TGD people, such as social support, gender-affirming care, and education. Further, research has consistently suggested disparities in suicidal behavior among TGD people based on race and ethnicity. Despite the recent prioritization of the health of TGD people, the impact of legislation on suicide attempts among TGD people remains relatively unknown. The current study seeks to fill this gap by examining the association between TGD-related policies and suicide attempts and the moderating effect of race/ethnicity using large nationwide data. Data from both the Movement Advancement Project National Equality Map and the 2015 United States Transgender Survey were used. Initial results revealed a significant direct relationship among race/ethnicity, TGD-related policies (health and safety and nondiscrimination), and the likelihood of reporting a suicide attempt in the past 12 months. While controlling for covariates, race/ethnicity significantly moderated the relationship between both types of policies and the likelihood of suicide attempts in the past 12 months. The current results underscore that protective and inclusive TGD-related policies may be an important protective factor in reducing the likelihood of suicide attempts in TGD people across racial/ethnic groups. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)