Forms of Psychological Bias Against Transgender Women and Men and People with Nonbinary Gender Identities

Abstract

The present review examines bias against transgender women and men and bias against people with nonbinary gender identities. A central contention is that many people hold false beliefs about transgender men’s and women’s membership in the categories “male” and “female,” and, separately, view nonbinary gender identities themselves as illegitimate. Both discounting transgender men’s and women’s membership in the categories “male” and “female” and discounting the validity of nonbinary gender identities are forms of bias, and examining them is key to developing a nuanced understanding of the biases that target transgender and nonbinary people. The authors review the literature on bias against transgender people and bias against nonbinary people, discuss the methodological and theoretical challenges in studying these biases, propose an approach for interpreting results, and consider avenues for future research.