Transgender/nonbinary young adults' exposure to cissexism-related social stressors: Variation across gender groups

Abstract

Background: Young adults who are transgender and/or nonbinary (TNB) experience discrimination, violence, and other social stressors as a result of cissexism, the system of power relations that marginalizes people whose genders diverge from sociocultural expectations for the sex they were assigned at birth. However, variation in TNB young adults' exposure to social stressors across gender groups, particularly specific nonbinary gender groups (e.g., agender, genderqueer), has not been well characterized.

Methods: We analyzed data from an online cross-sectional survey of U.S. TNB young adults (N = 667; ages 18-30 years; 44% White, 24% multiracial, 14% Black, 10% Latinx, 7% Asian, 1% another race/ethnicity), assessing gender non-affirmation; cissexist discrimination, rejection, and victimization; general discrimination; sexual assault victimization; and psychological, physical, and sexual abuse in childhood/adolescence. We used generalized linear models to test for variation in stressors across six gender groups (transgender woman [n = 259], transgender man [n = 141], agender [n = 36], gender fluid [n = 30], genderqueer [n = 51], nonbinary [n = 150]) and compare each group to the full sample. We performed similar analyses among nonbinary gender groups.

Results: Exposure to stressors was considerable in all groups. Several stressors (e.g., past-year cissexist discrimination) did not vary significantly by gender group. Compared to the full sample, transgender women reported greater lifetime cissexist rejection and lifetime and past-year cissexist victimization. Compared to the full sample, transgender men and women reported greater lifetime cissexist discrimination and lower past-year gender non-affirmation. No stressors varied significantly across nonbinary gender groups.

Conclusion: Among TNB young adults, women, men, and nonbinary people experience distinct patterns of some (though not all) stigma-related stressors. Decisions about (dis)aggregating research participants by gender group, or providing gender-tailored services for TNB people, should account for patterning of pertinent stressors. Efforts to eliminate structural cissexism should address intersections with other systems of power relations, including sexism and binary normativity.

Keywords: Discrimination; Gender identity; Nonbinary; Stigma; Transgender.