Sometimes research comes in what feels like the aftermath of a truth a community—especially a marginalized community—already knows and accepts. That doesn’t mean the science is any less important, of course, especially when we’re still in the stages of appealing to folks who don’t understand or relate to the issue at hand. One recent example? A study published in the Journal of Adolescent Health on Tuesday, Dec. 10 finds that trans and nonbinary youth who receive gender-affirming health care—specifically in the form of gender-affirming hormonal therapy—have significantly lower rates of not only depression but also suicidal ideation and suicide attempts. In short: It’s literally lifesaving. The study is the first of its kind in that it has a large number of participants, coming in at more than 34,000 LGBTQ+ youth in the United States. Of these respondents, about 12,000 identified as either transgender or nonbinary. All respondents were between the ages of 23 and 24 and were polled between October and December of 2020.  Read more