“The default is just going to be getting misgendered”: Minority stress experiences among nonbinary adults.

Abstract

Nonbinary people make up approximately one third of the broader trans community, yet most research on trans populations focuses on the experiences of binary trans people (i.e., trans men and trans women). Research has begun to indicate that mental health disparities may differ between binary and nonbinary trans populations and that nonbinary people may be at even greater risk for some mental health disparities compared to binary trans populations. Minority stress theory provides a framework for understanding the mental health disparities among LGBTQþ populations. However, research has yet to examine the unique minority stress experiences among nonbinary people. This qualitative study conducted by an all nonbinary team of researchers aimed to comprehensively identify the minority stress experiences of nonbinary people. Data were collected from five focus groups and six individual interviews with a diverse sample of nonbinary adults living in geographic areas across the United States (N = 29). Thematic analysis was applied with a deductive approach using the gender minority stress model (Testa et al., 2015) as a framework for identifying themes. Similar to the gender minority stress model, which focused on binary trans populations, nonbinary participants in this study reported experiencing discrimination, rejection, harassment/violence, misgendering, internalized stigma, anticipated minority stress, and concealment, but in unique ways. Newly identified minority stressors were binary normativity, interpersonal invalidation, burdening, gender dysphoria, and mental/emotional labor. Results advance minority stress theory as it applies to nonbinary populations and provide important implications for clinical interventions, policy, and future research. Public Significance StatementResults from this qualitative study showed that nonbinary people have unique experiences of stress compared with other trans populations due to structures, systems, and cultures being organized by the gender binary. As a result, nonbinary people experience invalidation and misgendering on a daily basis and expend undue mental and emotional labor explaining their identity to others.

Testing the minority stress model across gender identity, race, and ethnicity among U.S. gender minority adolescents.

“…Nevertheless, we found that youth AFAB who have nonbinary identities reported higher anxiety symptoms than youth AFAB who are transmasculine in multivariate analyses accounting for GM stressors, so it is possible that a psychosocial process outside of GM stressors is related to heightened anxiety symptoms among nonbinary youth AFAB. These disparities could be related to nonbinary-specific forms of minority stress, such as lower cultural visibility and the structural invalidation of nonbinary identities (Matsuno et al, 2022). More research is needed to determine the mechanisms of these disparities.…”

Navigating Gender at Sea

“…Unfortunately, the authors' experiences as TGD people at sea includes forms of harm from scientists and crew members. Misgendering, both intentional and accidental, is a frequent occurrence and has documented negative effects on mental health and wellbeing (Matsuno et al., 2022; McLemore, 2018). Intentional misgendering is a form of sexual harassment (Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (SOGI) Discrimination | U.S.…”

Navigating gender at sea

“…Unfortunately, the authors' experiences as TGD people at sea includes forms of harm from scientists as well as crew members. Misgendering, both manuscript submitted to AGU Advances intentional and accidental, is a frequent occurrence and has documented negative effects on mental health and wellbeing (Matsuno et al, 2022;McLemore, 2018). Intentional misgendering is a form of sexual harassment (Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (SOGI) Discrimination | U.…”