Interactions between blending and identity concealment: Effects on non-binary people's distress and experiences of victimization.

Sana Flynn,Nathan Grant Smith,Amy Michelle Debaets

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0248970

Abstract

Identity concealment (whether or not a person is open with others about their transgender status) and passing/blending (how much a transgender person can, or chooses to, blend into the binary social environment) have been shown to impact transgender people’s experiences in various ways, but few studies examine these constructs in the lives of non-binary individuals (those whose gender identity does not fall exclusively into the categories of man or woman). This study analyzed the non-binary subset of the nationwide sample from the 2015 United States Transgender Survey (9,769 participants) to examine the effects of blending/passing and identity concealment on distress and victimization. When ethnicity and income were controlled for, low concealers reported higher distress and more victimization experiences than high concealers, and blenders reported more distress and fewer victimization experiences than non-blenders. Not concealing may put non-binary people at higher risk for victimization, but blending into the binary-gendered environment may increase distress through identity erasure. Implications are discussed and future research directions are suggested.

Highlights

According to the United States Transgender Survey (2015), around one-third of transgender people identify as a gender identity outside of the traditional man/woman binary [1]
According to the United States Transgender Survey [1], the largest survey to date examining the experiences of transgender people, 35% of respondents identified as non-binary
This study contributes to the literature on non-binary transgender people by examining identity concealment and blending and how these constructs are related to distress and victimization

Summary

Introduction

According to the United States Transgender Survey (2015), around one-third of transgender people identify as a gender identity outside of the traditional man/woman binary [1]. There are a variety of labels that they use, including but not limited to genderqueer, agender, bigender, and genderfluid. Some conceptualize their gender as belonging between man and woman, and others as outside the man/woman continuum entirely [2]. For the purposes of the present study, “non-binary” will be used to refer to individuals who identify as a gender other than man or woman. According to the United States Transgender Survey [1], the largest survey to date examining the experiences of transgender people, 35% of respondents identified as non-binary

Methods

Results

Conclusion