Gender nonconforming people are consistently the only marginalized demographic that is routinely cited in studies of gender and sexual minorities alongside lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender people, but are NOT officially included in the LGBT initialism when it comes to advocacy.

Both GLSEN and Human Rights Campaign, account for gender nonconforming people in their reports of prejudice faced by gender variant youth. In fact, it's so commonplace to include gender nonconforming people in research, that organizations like these have adopted the phrase transgender and gender nonconforming (or TGNC), when discussing these combined demographics.

The Equality Federation in 2015 acknowledged that both transgender and gender nonconforming people, particularly youth, "face shockingly high rates of violence and discrimination":

"According to the National Transgender Discrimination Survey gender nonconforming/genderqueer people face shockingly high rates of violence and discrimination. This is especially concerning for our youth. Those who expressed a transgender identity or gender non-conformity while in grades K-12 reported high rates of harassment (78 percent)"

A study by JAMA Pediatrics revealed that of 6,082 high school students, gender nonconforming females were at 22 percent higher than average risk of mental illness but gender nonconforming males were at an astonishing 55 percent higher than average risk of mental illness. And it doesn't end there. Gender nonconforming females were 52 percent more likely to plan for suicide whereas gender nonconforming males were 79 percent more likely to plan for suicide and also twice as likely as their female counterparts to attempt suicide.

In 2017, The Williams Institute conducted the first comprehensive survey of gender nonconforming youth in California. The study determined that high school students perceived by their peers to be noticeably gender nonconforming or androgynous experienced over double the average levels of psychological distress than their peers (18% versus 7%).

The Human Rights Campaign's 2012 survey Supporting and Caring for our Gender-Expansive Youth also highlights the particular dangers that gender nonconforming youth altogether face:

"Gender expression is the initial, often primary, source of harassment, discrimination, and violence that confronts many of our youth. Quite simply, children and youth perceived to be different in their gender are often targeted by their peers. While lesbian, gay, bisexual youth experience significant levels of harassment and bullying related to their sexual orientation, the levels re even higher for those who defy gender conventions and expectations."

Now more than ever, it is important to cultivate a welcoming and inclusive space for transgender and gender nonconforming youth. Therefore, I recommend LGBTC to better reflect the diversity of our community and to affirm our commitment to equal representation for all.