Protective state LGBTQ+ policies reduce discrimination for trans, nonbinary residents

Bates et al., researchers with the DSDR-distributed National Couples’ Health and Time Study (NCHAT), are the first to use a population-representative dataset to evaluate the effectiveness of US state-level anti-discrimination policies for transgender and non-binary people. NCHAT, conducted in 2020-2021, surveyed a national sample of partnered adults, oversampling racial, ethnic, and sexual minorities to better capture LGBTQ+ experiences. For this analysis, Bates et al. also assessed state policy environments using Movement Advancement Project (MAP) scores from 2020. They could then estimate the predicted probability of any experiences of discrimination for cisgender heterosexual, transgender and non-binary, and cisgender sexual minority NCHAT respondents. Their findings showed 90 percent of transgender and non-binary respondents in a given month experienced recent discrimination, compared to about 74 percent of each of the two cisgender groups. States with LGBTQ+ policy protections saw significant reductions in experiences of discrimination, benefiting transgender and non-binary individuals the most.