Most transgender people realize that the gender they were assigned at birth did not match their own gender identity in their childhood and adolescence in all European countries. On average, 73 percent realized before the age of 18, with this being highest in Luxembourg, at 90 percent, and lowest in Hungary, at 62 percent.

In a global survey conducted in 2023, three percent of respondents from 30 countries identified themselves as transgender, non-binary/non-conforming/gender-fluid, or in another way. In Switzerland, around six percent of the respondents stated to identify themselves with one of the listed genders.

Germany and the Netherlands are the two countries in Europe with the greatest share of transgender people indicating that they have changed or are in the process of changing their legal gender, with 39 percent of respondents in both countries. Changing their gender on legal documents can be a huge milestone for many trans people, as it makes it easier for them to be identified identified according to their gender identity.

Trans people may experience great difficulties when going through the process of changing their legal gender, as many countries require medical and psychological evaluations before proceeding with the process. In such cases, where trans people do not trust public authorities to treat them in a non-discriminatory manner, very few transgender people go through the process to legally change gender, such as in Bulgaria, Lithuania, and Croatia, where less than five percent of respondents indicate they have done or are doing so.

As of April 2024, 55 percent of the LGBT population lived in the 50 states and the District of Columbia where private health insurance service providers weren't allowed to deny coverage for transgender-related health care services, such as sex reassignment surgery. However, only 40 percent lived in states where health insurance protections included sexual orientation and gender identity.

LGBT Americans The share of Americans self-identifying as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender has grown in recent years. This suggests that insurance protections which cover LGBT-related health care services will also continue to grow in importance. The prevalence of younger Americans self-identifying as LGBT when compared with older generations confirms this. Millennials and Gen Xers are much more likely to personally identify as LGBT than previous generations were. Growing acceptance and tolerance in wider society means that more people are willing to be open about their gender identity and sexual orientation. For instance, support for same-sex marriage in the U.S. underwent a huge shift over the past two decades with the majority of Americans being in favor of it since 2011.

As of February 10, 2025, the majority of the transgender population aged 13 and over in the United States were living in a state with no ban on transgender people's use of bathrooms or facilities. However, 10 percent of the transgender population were living in a state which banned transgender people from using bathrooms and facilities consistent with their gender identity in K-12 schools only, while eight percent were living in a state which banned transgender people from using bathrooms and facilities corresponding to their gender identity in all government-owned buildings and spaces, including schools, colleges, and more. A further seven percent were living in a state which restricted transgender people from using bathrooms and facilities consistent with their gender identity in K-12 schools and at least some government-owned buildings as well. Anti-education legislation Statewide legislation affecting LGBTQ+ people in the U.S. has been on the rise recently, especially in K-12 schools. Many states have taken legal action to restrict schools from teaching topics of racism, sexism, gender identity, sexual orientation, and systemic inequality to students. However, studies show that Americans typically remain politically divided over how these topics should be taught; in 2022, the majority of Democratic parents were found to believe that children should be taught that the legacy of slavery still affects the position of Black people in American society today while the majority of Republican parents thought that children should be taught that slavery is a part of American history but does not affect the position of Black people in American society today. Book bans Censorship of these topics has also been seen in K-12 libraries, with book bans occurring in multiple states throughout the country. As of 2022, Texas had the highest number of books banned in the U.S., followed by Florida. Florida's Parental Rights in Education Act, which is often referred to as the "Don't Say Gay" law, has been particularly controversial as it aims to prevent discussion of gender identity or sexual orientation and remove books featuring LGBTQ+ characters in K-12 schools and libraries. Along with potentially harming LGBTQ+ students, K-12 teachers have also highlighted how these laws and debates over what topics should be taught in the classroom may negatively impact their ability to do their job.

Worldwide, Brazil reported the highest number of transgender people murdered in 2023, reaching 100 victims. Most of the murders that year were reported in Latin America and the Caribbean. It is assumed that only a minority of the cases actually are reported, and the actual number is estimated to be significantly higher.

According to survey conducted in eight countries, Spain is the country where people are more likely to identify themselves part of the LGBTQ+ community. It is also the country in which respondents stated more often to have a close friend or relative who is part of the LGBTQ+ community (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, non-binary, among others). Sweden, Germany, Italy, and Denmark, on the other hand, record the highest share of respondents who were neither part of the LGBTQ community nor knew anyone who is part of it.

Much stigma-related research focuses on marginalized populations, including men who have sex with men (MSM) and transgender people. The importance of research in this area is widely recognized, however methodologies and measures vary between studies. This scoping review will collate existing information about how stigma-related research has been conducted in low/middle income countries (LMICs) within the Asia Pacific region, and will compare research designs, sampling frameworks, and measures. Strengths and limitations of these studies will inform recommendations for future stigma-related health research. A methodological framework for scoping studies was applied. Searches of Psych INFO, Scopus, ProQuest, Global Health and PubMed were used to identify articles. Stigma-related research amongst MSM and transgender communities, published between 2010 and 2019 in LMICs within the Asia Pacific region were included. A total of 129 articles based on 123 different studies were included. Of the 129 articles 51.19% (n = 66) were quantitative; 44.96% (n = 57) were qualitative and 3.88% (n = 5) were mixed methods studies. The majority of studies (n = 57; 86.36%) implemented a cross sectional survey. In-depth interviews (n = 20, 34.48%) were also common. Only 3.88% of studies utilized mixed-methods design. Non-probabilistic and probabilistic sampling methods were employed in 99.22 and 0.78% of studies respectively. The most common measures used in quantitative studies were the Center for Epidemiological Study on Depression (CES-D) (n = 18) and the Self Stigma Scale (SSS) (n = 6). Strengths and limitations proposed by researchers included in this review are summarized as lesson learnt and best practices in stigma-related research.

In 2023, around three quarters of the population surveyed in Thailand agreed with the statement that transgender teenagers should be allowed to receive gender-affirming care (e.g., counseling and hormone replacement treatment) with parental consent, the highest share across 30 countries surveyed. On the other hand, nearly half of Hungarians expressed disagreement with the statement when surveyed, with Hungary being the least supportive country in the list.

This statistics shows the results of a survey about the global attitude towards the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and/or intersex (LGBTI) community in 2016. When asked whether they personally knew someone who did not identify with the sex they were assigned at birth or someone who identified themselves as transgender, more than 55 percent of Jamaican respondents stated that they did not personally know anyone like that.

A research project developed by the Trans Murder Monitoring (TMM) revealed that at least 235 trans or gender-diverse people were murdered in Latin America from October 2022 to September 2023. The highest number of victims was reported in Brazil, with 100 homicides. Mexico was the second deadliest country for trans people in Latin America, having registered 52 murders in the same period.

In 2022, around 80 percent of transgender people in the United States had considered suicide, while around 40 percent had attempted suicide. There has been an upward trend in both the considered and attempted suicide rate since 2000, when 61 percent of transgender people considered committing suicide and 28 percent had attempted it.

Latin America and the Caribbean was, by far, the world region reporting the highest number of murders of transgender people worldwide in 2023. It is assumed that only a minority of trans people murdered are actually recorded as such, and the actual number is estimated to be significantly higher.

In 2023, 7.6 percent of adults surveyed in the United States stated they identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender (LGBT). This is an increase from 2012, when 3.5 percent of surveyed adults identified as LGBT. These four categories are among the most common sexual orientations and gender identities outside cis-heterosexuals.

Differences across ages and genders 

Zooming in, it is possible to see how the share of people identifying as LGBT changed considerably according to different demographics. Only two percent of Baby Boomers, indeed, reported being part of the LGBT community. On the other hand, among Generation Z individuals, this share reached almost 16 percent. Moreover, surveys suggest that women were more likely to identify as LGBT than men.

An ever-understanding society 

The fact that an increasing amount of people feel free and safe to openly identify as LGBT might be a consequence of the improved acceptance of the different sexual orientations and genders by the American people at large. While in 2001 more than half of U.S. citizens considered homosexual relationships to be morally wrong, 20 years later this percentage dropped to 30 percent. Support for same-sex marriage has also been consistently increasing, even among traditionally conservative political groups. Despite this, it is important to remember that every year hundreds of people are still victims of hate crimes in the United States simply because of their gender or sexual orientation.

This statistic represents the the results of an online survey conducted from December 2015 to January 2016 about the share of people who strongly believed that gender is assigned at birth and is always fixed, based on countries in the Asia Pacific region. According to the survey, the highest share of respondents, with about 72 percent in Indonesia believed that gender is assigned at birth and always fixed, while it was about 16 percent in Japan.

A survey conducted in 2024 found that over a third of respondents were thought that society has gone too far in accepting transgender people. On the other hand, a further third believed that society has not gone far enough.

In 2023, 9.8 percent of Millennials in the United States stated that they identify as LGBT, while in 2012, less than six percent of respondents from the same generation said the same. Members of Generation Z were the most likely to identify as LGBT, at over 20 percent.

At least a quarter of transgender respondents in Europe indicated that they never hide their trans identity in order to avoid discrimination, a positive development considering the substantial prejudice which many trans people may face in European countries. North Macedonia, Romania, and Cyprus had the most respondents saying they always or often hide their identity, with 43 percent of respondents in North Macedonia indicating they do so. At the other end of the scale, Finland only had 16 percent of respondents saying they always or often hide their gender identity.

Since 2010, the number of reported cases of homicides of transgender people worldwide increased from below 180 to more than 320 in 2023. It is assumed that only a minority of the cases actually are reported, and the actual number is estimated to be significantly higher.

78 of the recorded 321 transgender people murdered worldwide in 2023 were sex workers. The occupation of almost 160 of the victims was unknown. It is assumed that only a minority of the cases actually are reported, and the actual number is estimated to be significantly higher.