Does Policy Matter? The Impact of State and City Anti-Discrimination Policy on the Discrimination Experiences of Trans and Nonbinary People

Introduction: Anti-trans bias, discrimination, and religiosity are associated with higher levels of depression, anxiety, suicidality, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among trans and nonbinary (TNB) people. Certain US states have enacted anti-discrimination policies. These policies aim to decrease discrimination and disparate mental health outcomes; however, the impact on a person’s daily experience of discrimination is unknown. This study examines the impact of anti-discriminatory policy by comparing state TNB protection policy and religiosity to the daily discriminatory experiences of 101 TNB individuals. Methods: The authors used data on the discrimination experiences of TNB adult individuals over a 30-day period between December 2018 and January 2019 (n = 101). By comparing the zip codes to the data on state/city anti-discrimination policy from the Movement Advancement Project (MAP), existing protections and religiosity levels were compared to the experiences of TNB people using a linear regression. An ANOVA was conducted on the differences in the number of discriminatory events experienced per day based on whether a city had a trans-specific anti-discrimination policy. Results: A higher score–indicating greater policy protection–at both the state and city level is associated with significantly fewer anti-trans events experienced by TNB residents. States with higher gender identity policy rating reported fewer overall discriminatory events and fewer passive discriminatory events (p = 0.036; p = 0.033). Participants in cities without anti-discrimination policies were more likely to report community-level and passive discriminatory events (p = 0.013; p = 0.01). Lastly, participants in regions with higher levels of religiosity reported more overall passive and active discriminatory events (p = 0.011; p = 0.009; p = 0.031). Conclusions: Results demonstrate that lack of policy protections and higher levels of religiosity are associated more experiences of discrimination. Research into whether implementation of anti-discrimination policies leads to positive changes in attitudes or beliefs towards TNB people is an important next step. Policy Implications: Anti-discrimination policy covering all relevant policy areas specific to TNB individuals enacted at the state level has the potential to significantly reduce discriminatory experiences and improve the daily lives of transgender and nonbinary individuals.