Double jeopardy: Minority stress and the influence of transgender identity and race/ethnicity

Abstract

Background: Prior research suggests transgender individuals with multiple minority statuses experience higher psychological stress compared to their singly disadvantaged counterparts, and both Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC), and transgender minorities experience more frequent and severe forms of discrimination than White and cisgender individuals.

Aims: This study aims to examine racial/ethnic differences in gender-related discrimination and psychological distress within a sample of transgender individuals.

Methods: Using data from a convenience sample of 99 self-identified transgender adults recruited through North American LGBTQ organizations, data were analyzed to determine the relationship between race/ethnicity, gender minority stress, and psychological distress.

Results: When White and BIPOC participants are compared, no significant group differences were found in levels of gender discrimination or victimization. However, some individual racial/ethnic groups reported significantly higher or lower scores and results indicate that changes in reported gender minority stress are in fact positively correlated with reported psychological distress.

Conclusion: This research highlights that BIPOC are a heterogeneous group; by solely examining race/ethnicity as a binary variable, studies mask potential important differences among different groups.

Keywords:

• Ethnicity
• intersectionality
• minority stress
• race
• transgender

Acknowledgments

The first author listed would like to thank Dr. Kevin Carlson for his mentorship and help in beginning this research and constructing the survey, Dr. Jorge Alberto Perez and Monsy Engeseth for assisting in translating the survey into Spanish, Dr. Jason Eastman for advising over the initial study, the Coastal Carolina University PRIDE student group for reviewing the survey prior to distribution, the organizations who publicized the original study, and, most importantly, all of the participants in the study for their willingness to participate in this research and share their experiences.

Declaration of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Data availability statement

That the authors are willing to allow the journal to review their data if requested.

Notes

1 The authors acknowledge that individuals use a variety of labels. For the sake of brevity, the common descriptor "trans" is used to describe individuals whose gender identity does not align with their binary sex category assigned at birth.

2 While the authors recognize the diversity of ethnicities that make up socially constructed and socially conferred racial classifications, for this literature review and study, race and ethnicity are discussed and measured together.