With increasing attacks on LGBTQ+ rights over the past few years, it is no surprise that LGBTQ+ adults are struggling with their mental health. A new study from the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) Foundation details how these struggles can adversely affect state economies and serves to remind lawmakers that when LGBTQ+ people suffer, the country follows.

In the HRC Foundation’s 2024 LGBTQ+ Climate Survey, 71.5% of adults reported that anti-LGBTQ+ legislation has negatively impacted their health or well-being in the past year.

Related

Federal healthcare plan halts gender-affirming care coverage for trans people under 19
The plan will cover puberty blockers for cisgender youth, but not trans youth.

44.3% of LGBTQ+ adults and 63.5% of trans adults also said anti-LGBTQ+ legislation has harmed their mental health or the mental health of their loved ones, and 66.1% of LGBTQ+ adults, along with 83.4% of trans adults, said anti-LGBTQ+ legislation has made them feel less safe.

Stay connected to your community

Connect with the issues and events that impact your community at home and beyond by subscribing to our newsletter.
Subscribe to our Newsletter today

The report found that as a result of these fears, one in five LGBTQ+ adults are considering moving to a new state and one in 20 are trying to change jobs. Half of LGBTQ+ adults said anti-LGBTQ+ legislation has already impacted their choices of where to live and work in the last year, and one in five said they’ve refused a job or home in states with anti-LGBTQ+ legislation. 4% say they have already left their state or have taken steps to leave, and one in 20 are trying to change jobs due to anti-LGBTQ+ legislation.

“It is mentally exhausting to live in a state where the legislature and governor bully communities of color and LGBTQ+ communities,” said one cisgender lesbian woman who participated in the study. “It takes a toll. We will be moving from this state.”

A gender-questioning person from New York added, “I purposely turned down a dream job in a state where these laws were passed. Also, the laws affect my work, as I am a physician and cannot practice the full spectrum medicine I would like to.”

One cis queer woman stated that the laws “have radically impacted my queer & trans household” and that they are “actively shopping to relocate to MI or ME, leaving behind a business, a gorgeous home & property, a high-income career, and a non-profit we run in the queer community.”

Shoshana Goldberg, public education and research program director at the HRC Foundation, told The Advocate that this will no doubt hurt the economics of the states and businesses being abandoned.

“I think states stand to lose economically by continuing to support these laws. They risk losing the tourism and business travel dollars, such as those from the 30 percent of LGBTQ+ adults, in the last year alone, who have avoided, canceled, and/or refused to travel to states with anti-LGBTQ+ legislation,” she says. “They risk losing the taxable income from LGBTQ+ adults, and families of LGBTQ+ youth, who are looking to move to a new state where they and their children can live openly and freely … and companies headquartered in these states risk losing customers.”

She added, “The LGBTQ+ Community holds $1.4 trillion in purchasing power, and unsupportive companies stand to lose us as customers — as well as lose allies, particularly Millennials and Gen Z, who data shows are looking to spend their money on those companies that support their values of equality.”

She also warned that companies who halt DEI practices risk not only losing customers but also top talent.

Subscribe to the LGBTQ Nation newsletter and be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.