Which state has the highest per capita transgender rate among teenagers? California? Massachusetts? New York? Nope.

According to a new study published by UCLA’s The Williams Institute, the State of West Virginia has the highest per capita number of teenagers who identify as being transgender.

The study estimated that in the U.S., approximately 0.7 percent of youth ages 13 to 17 identify as being transgender, in the Mountain State, however, this same percentage is 1.5-times greater, with 1.04% of all children between 13 and 17 identify as being transgendered — this number equates to approximately1,150 West Virginia teenagers.

The question was posed, “Do you consider yourself to be transgender?” With a yes or no answer being presented.

If the interviewer was asked for a definition of transgender, they respond: “Some people describe themselves as transgender when they experience a different gender identity from their sex at birth. For example, a person born into a male body, but who feels female or lives as a woman would be transgender. Some transgender people change their physical appearance so that it matches their internal gender identity. Some transgender people take hormones and some have surgery. A transgender person may be of any sexual orientation – straight, gay, lesbian, or bisexual.”

A spokesperson for the UCLA School of Law stated, “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.”

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