Gay-straight alliance (GSA) clubs may positively affect mental health for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning (LGBT) students, but little research has studied schools that primarily enroll LGBT students. Guided by neofunctional and sexual stigma theory, the purpose of this study was to determine if graduates of LGBT high schools have better mental health than LGBT and heterosexual graduates of mainstream high schools. A snow ball sample, of 183 graduates of high schools in the United States and 95 graduates from high schools in other countries, 80% who identified as LGBT, completed an online survey consisting of 5 short mental health assessments, measuring anxiety, depression, self-esteem, internalized homophobia, and life satisfaction. Including demographic variables as covariates, ANCOVA was used to test for significant difference in the mental health of former students who have attended high schools with GSAs (GSA+) compared with graduates of high schools without GSAs (GSA-). Research results found that U.S. graduates of GSA+ high schools had significantly higher self-esteem (p = .034) and life satisfaction (p = .026) than U.S. graduates of GSA- high schools. Graduates of non U.S. GSA+ high schools had significantly lower levels of depression (p =.016) than graduates of U.S. GSA- high schools. Students who identified as gender conforming had significantly higher levels of self-esteem (p =.004) and significantly lower levels of depression (p = .000) than students identifying as nongender conforming. The social change implications of these findings include urging school administrations across the country to support GSAs as they may improve the mental health of students who identify as LGBT or nongender conforming.

Transgender and gender-nonconforming (TGNC) people experience innumerable health disparities that impact their physical, social, mental, and emotional health. Health disparities lead to increased rates of suicide, employment loss due to gender identity, poverty, and social isolation. The factors causing health disparities in the TGNC community are thought to be stigma; lack of health providers knowledgeable about lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, intersex, asexual, and other marginalized gender- and sexual-identifying people’s health; and occupational barriers. The Gender-Affirming Occupational Therapy program was constructed to educate and train occupational therapists and health providers to deliver inclusive and affirming services. It is based on the principles of three foundational theories—health stigma and discrimination framework, social learning theory, and diffusion of innovation—and informed by best practices in health care provider education and stigma mitigation. This 14-hour educational program includes guest panel speakers, group discussions, lectures, and clinical simulations. Although the Gender-Affirming Occupational Therapy program reflects the learning needs of occupational therapists and health professionals, the needs of the TGNC community were the central topics and focus areas chosen for this educational program. This doctoral project includes program evaluation, funding, and a dissemination plan.

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This study explored the perceptions and lived experiences of 10 transgender and gender nonconforming individuals who had interacted with the various sectors of the criminal justice system (i.e., law enforcement, the prison system, and the court system). The focus of this phenomenological qualitative study was providing insight into how sexual orientation and gender identity influenced transgender and gender nonconforming individuals' experiences and perceptions of the criminal justice system. Procedural justice theory guided this study by providing an understanding of how the behavior of the actors in the criminal justice system shaped the cooperation or resistance of transgender and gender nonconforming individuals. During semistructured telephonic interviews, participants were asked open-ended questions about their feelings, experiences, and perceptions regarding the various sectors of the criminal justice system (i.e., law enforcement, the prison system, and the court system). Using Moustakas's modified Stevick-Colaizzi-Keen approach, 3 themes were identified: (a) interactions with the criminal justice system, (b) thoughts about the criminal justice system, and (c) experiences with the criminal justice system. Findings indicated that the criminal justice system is not adequately prepared to accommodate or appropriately deal with transgender and gender nonconforming individuals and their unique needs. Implications for social change include the development of transgender-affirmative training programs and education for the criminal justice system and its personnel.

This research examines the ways in which individuals who identify with nonbinary gender identities 1) understand and perform their gender identities and 2) navigate the workplace, intimate partner relationships, friendships, and the LGBTQ+ community. Prevailing understandings of gender rely on a gender binary; identification with a binary gender is compulsory. Individuals are assigned a gender at birth and are expected to identify fully with that gender for their entire lives. However, despite significant social pressures to identify as man or woman, there exist individuals whose identities bring into question the stability of the gender binary. Non-binary is sometimes used to describe individuals who do not identify solely or fully as man or woman. Fifteen interviews were conducted with individuals living in the Portland Metro Area who included non-binary as part or all of their gender identity. Questions included general descriptive information, questions about participants’ conceptions of masculinity and femininity, and questions regarding their experiences as a non-binary person in the context of the workplace, intimate partner relationships, friendships, and the LGBTQ+ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, plus) community. It was found that non-binary individuals are largely held accountable to a normative performance of gender by friends, intimate partners, employers, and coworkers. While non-binary individuals are constrained by the gender structure at the individual, interactional, and institutional levels, they also appear to push back against these constraints in small but meaningful ways. Results from this study provide insight into a group of people which has been largely left out of the literature.

Suicide attempt and completion rates are significantly higher for the transgender and gender-nonconforming (TGNC) population. TGNC adolescents experience many challenges and adversities, which are compounded when they live in rural communities. The lived experiences of rural TGNC adolescents with social media were unknown and created a gap in the research. This study was grounded in transgender, gender minority stress, and resiliency theories, along with the conceptual frameworks of rural communities and grit. The purpose of this descriptive phenomenological qualitative research study was to explore the lived experiences of rural TGNC individuals (18-24-year-olds) with social media during adolescence. Data was collected through a brief online survey and face-to-face interviews with 9 participants. Interviews were recorded and transcribed. Data analysis included clustering of themes into textual and structural descriptions, as described by Giorgi. Results explored the lived experience and the essence of social media for rural TGNC adolescents. Rural TGNC adolescents reported emotional awareness and insight with both positive and negative aspects of social media, along with frustration and isolation. These results and implications may inform mental health professionals and providers about the social media experiences of rural TGNC adolescents, including how to incorporate these findings, better serve the rural TGNC population, and increase grit. These findings were also a voice for a hidden population of TGNC individuals living in rural communities during adolescence.

Although Child and Youth Care research and pedagogy is committed to diversity, as yet this field has produced very little research that specifically focuses on supporting children and youth who do not identify with cis/heteronormative standards of gender. Further, despite that recent media attention to trans issues and gender diversity has sparked questions concerning how issues of gender are approached in practice, there continues to be a distinct lack of consensus on how best to talk about these issues, how to define gender, and how to approach these issues in practice. Through combining Situational Analysis (Clarke, 2005) with aspects of Relativity Theory this thesis makes a contribution towards filling the existing gap in the research. This study provides a descriptive exploration into the many ways language is being utilized by young people to shape, evoke, and construct the diverse understandings of what gender means in their lives by analyzing data gathered through the social media platform, Tumblr. This inquiry shows that these young people create unique terminology to describe, discuss, define and share their engagement with gender categories and identities. The findings of this study suggest that a creative, nuanced, and flexible understanding of the ways in which the language and terminology shape and influences how gender is lived and then discussed within specific contexts both on- and offline, will greatly assist practitioners to support youth with this highly complex topic. / Graduate

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This article contains the findings of a content analysis on transgender-related scholarship in four counseling and counseling psychology journals from 2007 to 2020. A total of 94 publications were coded for analysis, and results from this analysis indicate an increase in the literature pertaining to transgender people and issues, though limitations still exist. Trends in the research are discussed, as well as gaps in the understanding of transgender communities in the counseling literature.