Trans Health Survey Reveals Transphobia As Barrier To Care And Cause Of ‘Detransitioning’
Image: Image: Protect Trans Kids, Newtown NSW, Feb 8, photo by Zebedee Parkes-36
The largest survey ever conducted on transgender lives in the United States has revealed the impacts of transphobia on decisions around transitioning and detransitioning for members of the community.
The results counter many misconceptions about the experiences of the transgender community and a provide a comprehensive insight into the lived experiences of the transgender community.
Released on June 11, 2025, the latest results from the 2022 U.S. Transgender Survey (USTS) confirm what many trans people and have long stated: gender-affirming care significantly improves lives, but transphobia remains the greatest obstacle to accessing and maintaining that care.
The importance of gender affirming care and effects of transphobia
Spearheaded by Advocates for Trans Equality (A4TE), the survey saw more than 84,000 transgender, non-binary, and gender nonconforming adults take part, making it the most extensive dataset on transgender experiences in history.
Among the key findings, only 9% of respondents who had transitioned reported reverting to living as their sex assigned at birth, at least temporarily.
Crucially, nearly all of those 9% cited anti-trans discrimination from family, friends, employers, or wider society as the reason for doing so.
Only 4% of those individuals said they had done so because they felt that transitioning was not right for them, representing just 0.36% of all respondents who had transitioned.
“Social and structural explanations dominated the reasons why respondents reported going back to living in their sex assigned at birth at some point,” the report states “but in almost every single case, the reason was anti-trans discrimination from one’s family, friends, or community.”
Far from the sensationalised claims of mass “detransitioning” often amplified by far-right media outlets and politicians, the survey highlighted the resilience and wellbeing of trans people who receive appropriate care, support and love from the their family, friends and community.
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98% of those who accessed gender-affirming hormone therapy (GAHT), and 97% who underwent gender-affirming surgery, reported being “more satisfied” with their lives.
This data arrives at a time when trans communities face intensifying political and cultural hostility in the United States and abroad.
As the report notes, “From 2015 to 2022, state-level policy environments became more protective in some ways for trans people; however, in 2022 alone, when the USTS was administered, 315 anti-LGBTQ bills were introduced across the country… This political landscape has only worsened… with the introduction of 571 anti-LGBTQ nationwide in 2023 and 489 in 2024.”
Olivia Hunt, A4TE’s Director of Federal Policy, highlighted the critical role of accurate data in advocacy stating “Having real concrete and rigorous data about the realities of trans people’s day-to-day lives is also a vital part of dispelling all of those assumptions and stereotypes that plague the public discourse about our community.”
The report also sheds light on racial disparities in trans experiences, with trans people of colour facing significantly higher rates of discrimination.
Many participants shared personal accounts of growth, happiness, and self-acceptance during their transition.
“I have thrived in the past 12 months in transition, I have a genuine smile on my face most days & laugh with genuine joy,” wrote Charlotte, a trans woman. “I have grown into the woman I was meant to be.”
Roo, a non-binary participant, shared their own heartfelt reflection: “Once I learned what it meant to be trans, I never looked back. I traded in my Regina George-esque life for a future with a balding head and a predisposition for a beer gut. I’ve never been more happy to be alive—every single day.”
