Mental health issue: The LGBTIQ+ community continues to experience higher rates of depression, stress, and anxiety.

While mental health problems remain one of the major health challenges facing Spanish society in general, it is no less true that certain groups are disproportionately affected by this problem.

The LGBTIQ+ community is one of these demographics, and its mental health indicators are visibly lower than the general average, even despite the progress made in recent years (including the recent trans law, which finally demedicalizes transgender identity).

Up to 33% have thought about suicide

This is evident from the third EU LGBTIQ survey , which shows that up to 75% of LGBTIQ+ people in Spain felt discouraged or depressed in the previous two weeks.

Not only that; no less than 33% admit to having thought about suicide in the past year, and 18% to having attempted it (in contrast, it is estimated that suicidal ideation affects around 15% of the general population).

Suicide attempts, in particular, are soaring among transgender men (up to 42%) and bisexual men (35%), and are also much higher than average among intersex people (33%), trans women (30%), bisexual women (29%), and people with non-binary gender identities (28%).

Discrimination and mental health

These percentages take on a different dimension when we consider data such as, for example, the fact that the Report on the Evolution of Hate Crimes in Spain 2023 (the latest available) prepared by the Ministry of the Interior noted an increase of more than 13% in attacks of this kind against people compared to the previous year, continuing an upward trend that has been going on for a longer time.

Similarly, the State of Hate: LGBTI+ Status 2025 report published by the State LGBTI+ Federation shows that up to 20.3% of LGBTI+ people have experienced harassment, and that more than a quarter say they have felt discriminated against in areas such as employment or access to housing. Up to 16.25% of this population, equivalent to 812,000 people, have suffered physical or verbal attacks.

The two aspects are not independent, and there is abundant scientific literature indicating that stigma in all its forms has a significant impact on the mental health of LGBTIQ+ people. The opposite is also true; inclusion in the community, acceptance, and a sense of belonging improve their mental health , as highlighted in an article in the scientific journal Psychology & Sexuality.

A problem of social context

Precisely, the goal of the LGBTIQ+ Pride celebrations, the work continues, is that: to promote the affirmation and acceptance of these identities, while demanding greater effective equality in rights and protection measures against discrimination and aggression.

There is already some scientific evidence that these kinds of events have a positive effect on the well-being of communities , even in the short term. In a broader sense, these kinds of events not only indicate more open and equal societies for different sexual orientations and gender identities, but they also reinforce that inclusivity.

In general, there is consensus that the mental health issues of the LGBTIQ+ population are not due to a strictly individual or clinical cause. Rather, they are the result of a social context marked by discrimination and stigma. The fight to end these scourges, which are so damaging to the dignity and well-being of so many people, made visible in the Pride celebrations, remains vital to addressing this reality.

References

European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights. EU LGBT Survey III (2024). Accessed online at https://fra.europa.eu/es/publications-and-resources/data-and-maps/2024/eu-lgbtiq-survey-iii on July 4, 2025.

Ministry of the Interior. Report on the Evolution of Hate Crimes in Spain 2023. Accessed online at https://www.interior.gob.es/opencms/export/sites/default/.galleries/galeria-de-prensa/documentos-y-multimedia/balances-e-informes/2023/Informe_evolucion_delitos_odio_Espana_2023.pdf on July 4, 2025.

R. Tinlin-Dixon, B. Bechlem, L. Stevenson-Young, R. Hunter & Falcon-Legaz. Community, belonging and acceptance; is this the antidote to shame and societal discrimination? An exploration of LGBTQ+ individuals' attendance at pride and their mental health. Psychology & Sexuality (2025). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/19419899.2024.2372047

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