New national survey finds LGBTQ+ community weathering a storm of anxiety, with community as their anchor

A newly released national report on LGBTQ+ mental health paints a portrait of a community that is both exhausted and enduring, carrying heavy emotional weight while leaning hard on each other to get through it.

The “Thriving & Surviving: 2026 State of LGBTQ+ Mental Health” report, published by the counseling network Best Therapies, surveyed more than 1,000 self-identified LGBTQ+ people across the country about how they’re coping amid what researchers describe as a stretch of compounding pressures: shifting federal policy, an affordability crunch, and renewed political targeting of transgender rights.

The findings are sobering. Roughly one in every two respondents said they don’t feel safe being openly LGBTQ+ right now. Among transgender respondents, that number climbs to nearly two out of three. About half say they feel less safe today than they did just two years ago, a feeling that’s even more pronounced, roughly six in ten, among trans respondents.

To cope, about one in three respondents said they’ve changed their appearance to mask their identity, a practice researchers call “going stealth.” Among transgender respondents, that jumps to roughly one in two.

Where someone lives matters a great deal to how safe they feel. Close to four in ten respondents said they live in a state they consider LGBTQ+-friendly, while three in ten said they live somewhere they consider hostile to their community. Notably, about one in four respondents said they’re planning to relocate to a more welcoming state this year, with most eyeing big cities like New York, Chicago, and Portland, Oregon.

For Utah’s LGBTQ+ community, often negotiating a state political climate that can feel like a mixed bag of local acceptance and statehouse hostility, those numbers will likely feel familiar.

Mental health toll is steep, but so is resilience

The report’s mental health findings stress just how much queer and trans Americans are carrying. More than four out of five respondents reported experiencing depression in the past year, and a nearly identical share reported anxiety or panic attacks. About seven in ten described feeling burned out or emotionally exhausted, and roughly six in ten reported bouts of social isolation. Most troubling, more than one in four respondents said they’d experienced suicidal thoughts in the last year.

Money, more than politics, tops the list of everyday stressors. Nearly seven in ten cited personal finances, and close to six in ten pointed to the cost of living, ahead of even national legislation and news coverage.

Still, the report found real reasons for hope. Nearly three-quarters of respondents said they feel a strong sense of belonging in the LGBTQ+ community. Those involved in a community group, whether a volunteer organization, activist group, or mutual aid network, the overwhelming majority, more than eight in ten, said it truly helped their mental health. When asked to look ahead, closer to half of respondents said they feel some degree of faith in the future for LGBTQ+ people in America, compared to roughly three in ten who feel pessimistic.

As Avery Brayfield, a licensed professional counselor quoted in the report, put it: “Having even one supportive person to turn to leads to more positive outcomes and decreased risk of suicide for those who choose to share their identity with others. Whether it’s online or in person, once a month, or once a day, connect with your people.”

Therapy helps — for those who can get it

About one in three respondents said they’re currently in therapy, and the results speak for themselves: nearly all of them — 95 out of every 100 — said it has been helpful. Yet only about one in four of those in therapy currently sees a therapist who is also LGBTQ+, even though nearly three-quarters said they’d feel most comfortable working with one. Among those not currently in therapy, cost was the single biggest barrier holding people back, cited by more than two in five.

That gap between wanting an LGBTQ+-affirming therapist and actually finding one is exactly the kind of hurdle local resources are built to close. Utahns looking for a mental health provider who understands their identity and lived experience don’t have to search nationally — the LGBTQ+ Affirmative Therapists Guild of Utah, found online at lgbtqtherapists.com, maintains a directory of local therapists who specialize in affirming, culturally competent care for queer and transgender clients. UAF Legacy Health at uafhealth.org and Flourish Therapy at flourishtherapy.org also provide therapists who provide compassionate mental health care

The report’s authors offered five practical tips for weathering the moment: set smaller, achievable goals; acknowledge how hard things genuinely are; limit doomscrolling and media overconsumption; invest in the relationships close to home; and make space to celebrate small wins.

As counselor James Gomez noted in the report, “Our hope does not exist inside of headlines, but it can exist within people who inspire us.” For a Utah LGBTQ+ community that has spent decades building its own networks of support, that message comes as both a hurdle and a reminder: the work of showing up for one another isn’t just tradition; it’s a survival strategy.