Stigma, Identity and Support in Social Relationships of Transgender People Throughout Transition: A Qualitative Analysis of Multiple Perspectives

Supportive social relationships are vital for health and well-being as they serve to ameliorate stress and therefore reduce the likelihood of suffering from disease across the life course. This social support could be more essential for transgender people, who experience unique social stress due to their marginalized status. The current study compared and contrasted the experiential accounts of transgender people, their relational partners and gender service providers using a thematic phenomenological methodology across a series of focus groups and interviews. In total, there were 17 participants across three focus groups (eight transgender people, six relational partners, and three service providers) and nine participants in the interviews (three transgender people, three relational partners and three service providers). Four overarching themes were identified: (1) Coming out and identity management, (2) Reciprocal support in relationships, (3) Social transition and gender identity affirmation, (4) Experiences in the LGBTQ+ community. Issues of stigma, identity, and support were present throughout all the themes. Receiving gender identity affirmation from supportive relational partners was essential for transgender people, while external support was highlighted as something relational partners needed (but did not often seek). This research has implications for understanding how transgender people and their relational partners support one another when facing stress and stigma.