The Williams Institute is a think tank on sexual orientation and gender identity law and public policy located at UCLA School of Law. The Institute released a new study yesterday: Age of Individuals who Identify as Transgender in the United States.

In addition to 0.6 percent of U.S. adults (1.4 million individuals), new study finds that 0.7 percent of youth ages 13 to 17 identify as transgender.

This study is the first to provide population estimates for youth who identify as transgender in each of the 50 states, plus the District of Columbia.

The research was performed by Jody L. Herman, Ph.D., Andrew R. Flores, Ph.D., Taylor N. T. Brown, MPP, Bianca D.M. Wilson, Ph.D., and Kerith J. Conron, Sc.D., and provides new estimates of the age composition of individuals who identify as transgender in the U.S. and estimates of the size of the transgender-identified population by age group. The youngest age group, 13 to 17, has the highest estimated percentage of individuals who identify as transgender.

Current policy debates in several states have involved legislation that would impact transgender students. Our estimates suggest that thousands of youth could be negatively impacted by laws that would limit their access to school facilities and undermine protections against discrimination.

--Dr. Herman

In the U.S. population, the study estimates that 0.7 percent of youth ages 13 to 17, 0.7 percent of young adults ages 18 to 24, 0.6 percent of adults ages 25 to 64, and 0.5 percent of adults ages 65 and older identify as transgender.

About 150,000 youth (13 to 17) and 1.4 million adults (18 and older) identify as transgender in the U.S.

Of individuals ages 13 and older who identify as transgender in the U.S., 10 percent are youth (13 to 17), 13 percent are young adults (18 to 24), 63 percent are ages 25 to 64, and 14 percent are ages 65 and older. This distribution is similar to the age distribution of the general population.

Mirroring the relative population size of U.S. states, the largest populations of youth that identify as transgender are found in California, Texas, New York, and Florida. The smallest populations are found in North Dakota, Vermont, and Wyoming.

Agencies and institutions that have a responsibility to protect and promote the wellbeing of adolescents now have an idea of how many transgender youth should be served in every state in the U.S.

--Dr. Conron

The researchers drew on data from the CDC's Risk Factor Surveillance System, "a national, state-administered survey, which collected data on transgender identity among adults in 19 states for the first time in 2014.

The BRFSS represents the best available population-based data to study the size and characteristics of adults who identify as transgender.

The authors used an advanced statistical method to produce population estimates for youth, as well as adults. Inclusion of gender identity measures in population-based youth surveys remains necessary to advance knowledge about the size, characteristics, and needs of the transgender youth population.

Prior research suggests that transgender youth begin to ‘feel different’ in regard to their gender and understand themselves to be transgender at young ages, such as 4 years old,” the study reports. “Calculations by the authors using existing datasets to identify transgender youth under 18 suggest that the highest proportions of youth who identify as transgender occur around ages 15 to 17.

For years I have written that the overall transgender population is about 0.3%. Recently that was revised upward to 0.6%. The potential problem of course is that religious conservatives might soon claim that transgenderism is contagious among children seeking attention. Nothing could be further from the truth. Researchers have separately determined that trans kids are neither confused nor pretending.

--Slowly Boiled Frog