Research into antigay violence has been limited by a lack of attention to issues of gender presentation. Understanding gender nonconformity is important for addressing antigay prejudice and hate crimes. We assessed experiences of gender-nonconformity-related prejudice among 396 Black, Latino, and White lesbian, gay, and bisexual individuals recruited from diverse community venues in New York City. We assessed the prevalence and contexts of prejudice-related life events and everyday discrimination using both quantitative and qualitative approaches. Gender nonconformity had precipitated major prejudice events for 9% of the respondents and discrimination instances for 19%. Women were more likely than men to report gender-nonconformity-related discrimination but there were no differences by other demographic characteristics. In analysis of events narratives, we show that gender nonconformity prejudice is often intertwined with antigay prejudice. Our results demonstrate that both constructs should be included when addressing prejudice and hate crimes targeting lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender individuals and communities.

BackgroundA barrier to monitoring the health of gender minority (transgender) populations is the lack of brief, validated tools with which to identify participants in surveillance systems.MethodsWe used the Growing Up Today Study (GUTS), a prospective cohort study of U.S. young adults (mean age = 20.7 years in 2005), to assess the validity of self-report measures and implement a two-step method to measure gender minority status (step 1: assigned sex at birth, step 2: current gender identity). A mixed-methods study was conducted in 2013. Construct validity was evaluated in secondary data analysis of the 2010 wave (n = 7,831). Cognitive testing interviews of close-ended measures were conducted with a subsample of participants (n = 39).ResultsCompared to cisgender (non-transgender) participants, transgender participants had higher levels of recalled childhood gender nonconformity age < 11 years and current socially assigned gender nonconformity and were more likely to have ever identified as not completely heterosexual (p < 0.001). No problems with item comprehension were found for cisgender or gender minority participants. Assigned sex at birth was interpreted as sex designated on a birth certificate; transgender was understood to be a difference between a person’s natal sex and gender identity. Participants were correctly classified as male, female, or transgender.ConclusionsThe survey items performed well in this sample and are recommended for further evaluation in languages other than English and with diverse samples in terms of age, race/ethnicity, and socioeconomic status.

Purpose-This study investigates depression and anxiety in gender minority (i.e., transgender and/or gender nonconforming) compared to non-gender minority (cisgender) young adults.Methods-Data were from the Growing Up Today Study, a national cohort of U.S. young adults. A two-step method (maternal-reported natal sex in 1996 cross-classified with participantreported current gender identity in 2010) was used to identify gender minority and non-gender minority respondents (n=7831; mean age=26 years). Differences in past-week depressive symptoms and anxious symptoms were examined cross-sectionally by gender identity. Gender minority and non-gender minority respondents were compared using age-adjusted logistic regression models.Corresponding Author: Sari L. Reisner, ScD, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, Associate Scientific Researcher, Boston Children's Hospital, sari.reisner@childrens.harvard.edu. The authors have no financial conflicts of interest to disclose.Implications and Contribution Statement: Gender identity is an understudied social determinant of mental health. This study contributes epidemiologic data showing a higher prevalence of depressive and anxious symptoms in gender minorities (i.e., transgender and/or gender nonconforming) relative to non-gender minorities in an U.S. cohort of young adults.Publisher's Disclaimer: This is a PDF file of an unedited manuscript that has been accepted for publication. As a service to our customers we are providing this early version of the manuscript. The manuscript will undergo copyediting, typesetting, and review of the resulting proof before it is published in its final citable form. Please note that during the production process errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that apply to the journal pertain. HHS Public AccessAuthor manuscript J Adolesc Health. Author manuscript; available in PMC 2017 August 01. Author Manuscript Author ManuscriptAuthor Manuscript Author ManuscriptResults-In gender minorities, the prevalence of depressive and anxious symptoms meeting clinical cutoffs was 52% and 38%, respectively compared to non-gender minorities (27% and 30% in females and 25% and 14% in males) (p<0.01).Conclusion-Gender identity is an understudied social determinant of mental health. Surveillance efforts to monitor mental health disparities should include survey questions to assess gender identity in epidemiologic research. Research and interventions to understand and ameliorate mental health disparities by gender identity are needed.