“Mom and dad = cis woman + cis man” and the stigmatization of trans parents: an empirical test of norm-centered stigma theory

Abstract

Background: Empirical research on transgender individuals and their families is growing but investigations of attitudes toward trans parents are sparse. This gap is especially important to address because transgender parents face unique strains due to their violations of hetero-cis-normativity and the “Mom and Dad = Cis Woman + Cis Man” stereotype. Methods: Using a sample of adults aged 18-64 stratified by U.S. census categories of age, gender, race/ethnicity and census region collected from online panelists (N = 2,948), this study provides an intersectional investigation of Norm-Centered Stigma Theory (NCST) with hetero-cis-normativity (a system of norms, privilege, and oppression that situates heterosexual cisgender people above all others) as the centralized overarching concept that helps us to understand negativity directed toward transgender parents. Specifically, social power axes including gender identity (cisgender woman, cisgender man, nonbinary; trans people were excluded from the current study), sexual identity (heterosexual, lesbian, gay, bisexual), and interactions among these axes of social power are investigated. Results: Findings indicate that hetero-cis-normativity is strongly related to negativity toward trans mothers and fathers and that there is overall greater stigma toward trans dads when compared to trans moms. In addition, gender, sexual identity, and interactions among these experiences of social power have complex relationships with the stigmatization of trans parents. Conclusion: Results provide support for the use of Norm-Centered Stigma Theory to help us best understand the constellation of hostilities directed toward trans people and their families.

Keywords:

• Stigma
• transgender
• parenthood
• motherhood
• fatherhood
• family
• LGBTQ
• hetero-cis-normativity
• Norm-Centered Stigma Theory

Declaration of conflict of interest

The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.

Funding

This project was funded by the University of Oklahoma Office of the Vice President for Research via the Faculty Investment Program.

Notes

1 For example, as of 2020 the following countries still had sterilization requirements in place: Finland, Latvia, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Romania, Serbia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Montenegro, Kosovo, Turkey, Cyprus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, and Japan (TGEU, 2020).

2 The stigmatized lens examines how the target of stigma’s (i.e., the stigmatized) own axes of social power impact their own experiences with negativity, prejudice, and stigma.

3 It is unknown how many of these emails were actually received and read by the potential respondents so an exact response rate is also unknown. For example, junk mail filters could have prevented potential respondents from seeing the email invitation, some may have opened the email but decided not to click the link to access the survey, and some may have been deemed ineligible due to identity quotas being met as requested by the author set by SSI (5 of the 8 identity quotas were met).

4 The survey was held open for 19 days in efforts to meet the quotas set for the LGBT groups. Five quotas were met as follows: gay men (5 days in), bisexual women (7 days in), lesbian women (8 days in), cis men and cis women (16 days in). The quotas for the remaining three groups (bisexual men, trans men, and trans women) were not met. The survey was closed because SSI believed it was not realistic to expect these quotas to fill in a reasonable amount of time.

5 Throughout the survey, the following informational definitions were provided: (a) gay men (men who have romantic and sexual attractions to men), (b) lesbian women (women who have romantic and sexual attractions to women), (c) bisexual men (men who have romantic and sexual attractions to both men and women), (d) bisexual women (women who have romantic and sexual attractions to both men and women), (e) transgender men (those who currently identify as men who were assigned "female" at birth), (f) transgender women (those who currently identify as women who were assigned "male" at birth), (g) "queer" is often used as an umbrella identity term that encompasses individuals who do not feel they fit within the categories of heterosexual, lesbian, gay, or bisexual, and/or those who are attracted to people of many genders, and/or those who feel their sexual identity is fluid, and (h) "genderqueer" is often used as an umbrella identity term that encompasses individuals who are gender-nonbinary or gender fluid and/or those who do not feel they fit within the categories of man or woman.