This story was originally published by Uncloseted Media, an LGBTQ focused investigative news outlet.
Spencer McNaughton, Uncloseted Media on Anti-LGBTQ hate and Canada:
I remember taking an “Introduction to Canadian Studies” course in my third year at McGill University. The takeaway from the class was that Canada’s national identity is built around an ideology that we are proud to be not American.
As America’s northern neighbor, we are fractional in size, with only slightly more people living in Canada than in California. Perhaps due to an inferiority complex, we pride ourselves in being better than the U.S.: we boast about how we are happier people and have universal healthcare, less income inequality, more tolerance for diversity and less gun violence.
But therein also lies the problem. This “grass is greener” mentality gives Canadians an out from not having to reflect on the problems we face within our own borders.
This idea is particularly relevant when it comes LGBTQ rights. While the U.S. government is waging an unprecedented attack on the queer community, Canada is far from perfect: Alberta’s government, egged on by anti-LGBTQ parent groups, has instituted a new book ban policy; Saskatchewan’s “Parents’ Bill of Rights“—which has been cited as an example of the encroachment of America’s culture wars—requires teachers to get parental consent to call trans kids by anything other than their deadnames; and former prime ministerial frontrunner Pierre Poilievre has an anti-trans track record that closely mirrors Donald Trump’s.
These policies have a tangible impact: 56% of Canada’s LGBTQ youth meet the criteria for a variety of mental health and substance use disorders compared with 29% of their cisgender heterosexual counterparts, and hate crimes against LGBTQ Canadians went up by 388% between 2016 and 2023.
In the last few months, I’ve had countless conversations with Canadian friends and colleagues about how we need to remain vigilant and take action to make sure America’s anti-LBGTQ ecosystem doesn’t bleed north of the border. I’ve reflected on what that means for Uncloseted Media. How can we, as a journalistic organization, help hold the line in my home country, which has been a trailblazer for LGBTQ rights on the global stage?
The answer is simple: we’re going to start telling more Canadian stories. In the next few months, expect a rollout of more Canadian content examining the country’s anti-LGBTQ ecosystem that fuels misinformation and misunderstanding and promotes principles—such as division and intolerance—that are antithetical to Canadian values. Expect investigations, but also human-centered stories that unpack what it’s like to be, for example, a kid growing up in an intolerant household in rural Alberta.
While our geographical coverage is expanding, our commitment to journalistic rigor and the truth remains the same. We’re excited to take you on a ride north of the border and equally thrilled to announce that Canadians can now donate to Uncloseted Media through our campaign with the Veritas Foundation. Special shoutout to Veritas’ Executive Director Mark Bonham for helping us with this exciting initiative. If you are Canadian and would like to contribute, you can do so here:
Resist Hate Editor:
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We begin our fight against Anti-LGBTQ hate by sharing the work of Trevor’s Project. We reported on these statistics in the very beginning.
LGBTQ Youth Mental Health Statistics
Conservatives, do you realize that you’re harming children? You’re not against abortion if you’re ok with pushing children into taking their own lives.
Personal anecdote: I’m 6 feet tall and my ex-husband is 6’4, so it’s no surprise that my son is 6’7 (he hit that height in high school) and my daughter is 6’1. Along with height comes big feet (sometimes). My daughter wears size 13.
She told me recently about how she was confronted in a bathroom stall after someone got security to enter the women’s room because there was a “man” in one of the stalls. It didn’t end there. Once she came out and they could see she was a woman, the “Karen” then accused my daughter of being trans. —Resist Hate Editor
Mental Health of LGBTQ+ Youth in U.S. Is Worsening
With the President of the United States constantly attacking the community, Republican state legislatures passing Anti-LGBTQ laws and stripping away their rights, and being used as pawns in political battles with television attack ads, etc., it’s not surprising that LGBTQ+ children face more harassment, abuse, and violent assaults than ever before.
It’s beyond disgusting to demonize children for who they are, how they were born. Doesn’t the fact that more teens are taking their own lives give you any pause? Why won’t you STOP!?
Their reason is likely the same one they give for why they demonize immigrants even though far-right extremists have carried out mass shootings targeting immigrants that are directly linked to their hateful rhetoric and The Great Replacement Theory—a conspiracy theory most recently talked about in a speech by Vice President JD Vance.
We may not be able to stop people from acting like uncivilized monsters, but we can support the LGBTQ+ community and keep the hate from infecting other populations.
Uncloseted Media is ramping up their coverage and we will do the same. Resist Hate will focus on sharing polls and studies that reveal how the hate is affecting people and organizing to spread love, positivity, and protection to young people experiencing the rise in hate.
The Trevor Project research team followed more than 1,600 teens from 2023 to 2025 to collect this data.
The study as described by Trevor Project:
“While many of the findings in this study are devastating, they are not surprising. LGBTQ+ young people in this country continue to face elevated levels of stigma and political rhetoric, which take a serious toll on their mental health and well-being,” said Jaymes Black, CEO of The Trevor Project.
“For the first time in our organization’s history, our own research team has released a study that follows a sample of LGBTQ+ young people over an extended period of time. This allows us to clearly and unequivocally document what we know to be true: the manner in which LGBTQ+ youth are treated in this country harms their health and risks their lives, and it is only getting worse. I hope that lawmakers, community leaders, and youth-serving professionals take stock of these research findings, and join our efforts to support the health and safety of LGBTQ+ young people across the country.”
The Data
LGBTQ+ youth reporting recent anxiety symptoms rose from 57% to 68%
LGBTQ+ youth reporting depressive symptoms climbed from 48% to 54%
LGBTQ+ youth reporting suicidal ideation grew from 41% to 47%
Discrimination
LGBTQ+ youth reported widespread experiences of victimization and discrimination, both at the start of the data collection period, and one year later.
An estimated one-third of participants reported being physically harassed or threatened because of their sexual orientation, and two-fifths of transgender and nonbinary respondents said they were physically harassed or threatened because of their gender identity.
Approximately 55% of participants reported being discriminated against because of their sexual orientation, and an estimated 66% of transgender and nonbinary respondents experienced discrimination based on their gender identity.
These rates remained consistent both at the onset of data collection, and one year later.
Conversion Therapy (How has it not been deemed torture yet?)
The data indicate that conversion therapy remains a significant and harmful experience for LGBTQ+ youth in the U.S. In the first year of the study, reports of conversion therapy rose sharply: After one year, reports of being threatened with conversion therapy doubled from 11% to 22%, and exposure to these practices climbed from 9% to 15%.
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