Roughly one in four (25%) American high school students currently identifies as lesbian, gay, or bisexual (LGB) or some other non-heterosexual identity.¹ California is home to an estimated 211,000 to 256,000 LGB youth between the ages of 13 to 17.²

① Journal of the American Medical Association (2024)
② Williams Institute (2020)

Today over 3% of all American teenagers identify as transgender, and another 2.2% have questioned at some point whether they might be.¹ An estimated 22,200 trans teens live in California.² More than one in four (26%) of surveyed American LGBTQ+ youth identify as nonbinary, with an additional 20% unsure or questioning.³

① U.S. Centers for Disease Control (2024)
② Williams Institute (2020)
③ Trevor Project (2021)

By the time they reach their senior year of high school, almost 47% of U.S. teens have tried an illicit drug and over 61% have abused alcohol. Teenagers in California are 24.46% more likely to have used drugs in the last month than the average American teen.

National Center for Drug Abuse Statistics (2020)

Approximately 4 in 10 American high school students report experiencing persistent feelings of sadness. Ten percent (10%) have attempted suicide, while 20% have seriously considered it.

U.S Centers for Disease Control (2023)

Body image issues can begin in children as early as elementary school. More than half of teen girls and one-third of teen boys have participated in some type of unhealthy weight-controlling behaviors, including skipping meals, vomiting, or misusing laxatives. Rates are higher among LGBTQ+ youth, with up to 9 in 10 (87%) reporting dissatisfaction with their body.

National Eating Disorders Association (2018)

Almost 20% of American youth aged 12-17 report being bullied in person (at school or elsewhere), and over 21% have been bullied online or by text (cyberbullying).

U.S Department of Health and Human Services (2024)

Studies have shown that about 15% to 43% of girls and 14% to 43% of boys experience at least one trauma in childhood. Of those youths who have survived a traumatic experience, 3% to 15% of girls and 1% to 6% of boys develop PTSD. Common sources of trauma in youth include neglect and physical, sexual, or psychological abuse.

U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (2025)

Children of divorced parents are at heightened risk for behavioral issues, emotional distress (including psychiatric disorders, suicidality, and addiction), decreased social or psychological maturation, and loss of faith compared to peers whose parents are not divorced.

National Library of Medicine (2019)