Centering Resistance amid the Vitriol: Explanatory Sequential Study of Motivators for Participation in Activism and Policy Action for Transgender and Gender Diverse Justice

Background and Purpose:

The transgender and gender diverse (TGD) justice movement in the U.S. has been present since colonial times. There have been unprecedented TGD justice progress in the past two decades, yet, this progress has been stalled with the emergence of an anti-TGD counter movement. The purpose of this study was to examine what motivates individuals to engage in transgender and gender diverse (TGD) activism and policy action, based on the theoretically and empirically based motivators tied to participation in activism and policy action.

Methods

An explanatory sequential mixed-methods design collected quantitative cross-sectional survey data (N = 954) then explained these results with an in-depth participatory analysis by focus groups (N = 6).

Results

Phase 1: Two structural regression analyses were conducted to assess the direct effects between the motivators of political salience, community connectedness, and social movement organization involvement and TGD activism and TGD policy action. Community connectedness (b = .11, p = .01) and social movement organization involvement (b = .66, p = .01) had significant direct effects on TGD activism participation. Political salience did not have a significant effect on TGD activism among the total sample. Among transgender participants, social movement organization involvement was the only motivator that had a significant direct effect on participation TGD activism (b = .60, p < .001). Among nonbinary participants, community connectedness (b = .22, p = .01) and social movement organization involvement (b = .58, p < .001) had significant direct effects on participation in TGD activism. Lastly, among cisgender participants, political salience (b = .15, p = .001) community connectedness (b = .15, p = .002), and social movement organization involvement (b = .69, p < .001) had significant direct effects on participation in TGD activism. Social movement organization involvement was the only motivator that had a significant direct effect among the total sample (b = .54, p < .001), transgender participants (b = .57, p < .001), nonbinary participants (b = .57, p < .001), and cisgender participants (b = .58, p < .001).

Phase 2: Utilizing thematic analysis, five semantic themes were conceptualized to describe participant narratives and motivations for engaging in TGD activism and TGD policy action based on Phase 2 participants’ interpretations of the quantitative results from Phase 1. The five themes included (a) Gender Impacts Access and Safety for Participation, (b) Skin in the Game, (c) Performative Allyship is Not Enough, (d) Barriers to Policy Action, and (e) Social Movement Organizations Reduce Barriers.

Conclusion

This timely and relevant study amid the wave of a powerful anti-TGD countermovement identified the function of social movement organizations at the juncture of decision making for participation in TGD policy action among individuals of all genders. For cisgender individuals, empathy and community connectedness are additional crucial motivators for participation in TGD activism and TGD policy action. Moreover, in a time of great apathy and compassion fatigue, social movement organizations have the potential to connect the dots between hope and action among individuals who believe in TGD justice.