LGBTQ+ policies significantly reduce discrimination for transgender and nonbinary people

LGBTQ+ Americans experience widespread discrimination that impacts their physical and mental health—of the over 8% of U.S. adults who are members of the LGBTQ+ community, one in three report experiencing discrimination in the past year. Individuals who identify as transgender and nonbinary are exposed to more discrimination than their sexual minority counterparts, which is associated with worse health outcomes.

Minnesota and many other states have enacted policies meant to better protect LGBTQ+ people from discriminatory behavior. A new study from the University of Minnesota School of Public Health (SPH), published in Population Research and Policy Review, examines the efficacy of these policies.

Using survey data from the National Couples’ Health and Time Study, the research team explored whether protective, state-level, LGBTQ+ policies reduce interpersonal discrimination, particularly among transgender and nonbinary individuals.

The study found:

• Over 90% of transgender and nonbinary individuals have experienced discrimination, compared to 74% of cisgender sexual minorities and 73.2% of cisgender heterosexual individuals.
• Protective state-level LGBTQ+ policies significantly reduced instances of discrimination. States with more protections saw rates drop from 98% to 69.8% among transgender and nonbinary people.
• Cisgender sexual minorities and heterosexual individuals saw only minor reductions in discrimination in states with protective policies, indicating transgender and nonbinary individuals benefit most from these policies.

“The magnitude of discrimination faced by transgender and nonbinary individuals was both expected and alarming,” said Alex Bates, SPH researcher and lead author.

“What surprised us most was the significant impact that state-level protections have in reducing these harmful experiences. Our findings suggest that strengthening these policies—and resisting the push for anti-LGBTQ+ legislation—will be key to improving the well-being of this vulnerable population.”

Future research could explore the impact of these state-level policies on experiences of health care discrimination, mental health outcomes and how these stressors can lead to inflammation and negative health outcomes. The researchers also recommend more studies to consider the different experiences within the LGBTQ+ community to better understand how overlapping identities, such as race and gender, impact discrimination.