A Finnish study of more than 2,000 young people has concluded that there is zero evidence of increased suicidality in gender-conflicted youth once one corrects for psychiatric co-morbidities such as depression, autism spectrum disorder, anxiety, and PTSD. The findings directly challenge the common narrative used by transition advocates who ask parents, "Would you rather have a live son or a dead girl?"
Weaponizing Suicide Risk
J. Edward Les, writing for the National Post, argues that the weaponization of suicidality is one of the most deplorable aspects of the ongoing debate around gender-affirming care. He notes that both sides have overhyped the risk: critics of the gender-affirming care model have incorrectly claimed that gender transition increases suicide, while advocates have implied that blocking transition dramatically raises suicide risk.
According to Les, the actual risk of completed suicide in transitioned and gender-dysphoric youth, while significantly higher than the general age-matched population, fortunately remains overall quite low. However, falsely claiming increased suicidality is dangerous given what is known about suicidal contagion, which is more common among teens than other age groups.
Historical and Modern Suicidal Contagion
Suicidal contagion is a well-recognized phenomenon. One of the earliest recorded clusters occurred in 1774 after publication of Wolfgang von Goethe's novel The Sorrows of Young Werther, when about 40 young people mimicked the book's main character and committed suicide. More recently, in 2026, five young people in the Woodstock, Ontario, region took their lives; at least 36 others expressed suicidal thoughts or attempted suicide. The documentary The Edge of Success highlights two suicide clusters that claimed the lives of nine Gunn High School students in Palo Alto, California, in 2009 and 2014.
Les emphasizes that planting the notion of suicide as an acceptable off-ramp from distress in the mind of a mentally suffering teenager dramatically increases the chance that he or she will consider or attempt suicide. Suicide prevention experts warn that the topic of suicide among teens should be approached with abundant caution to avoid fostering suicidal ideation, attempts, and deaths.
Impact of Anti-Trans Laws
In 2024, the journal Nature Human Behavior published a study claiming a dramatic rise in suicide attempts among transgender and non-binary youth following passage of state "anti-transgender" laws in the U.S. Les criticizes ideologues for seizing upon suicidality as ammunition to advance their agenda, noting that such narratives can be harmful to both gender-confused youth and their families.
