“Race and Gender Coincide and Coexist”: Examining Gender Euphoria As a Mental Health Protective Factor Among Transgender and Nonbinary Black, Indigenous, People of Color

Background and Purpose. Research on trans and nonbinary (TNB) communities has increased significantly over the past decade; however, much of this research has reinforced a deficit narrative of TNB communities by centering discrimination and violence toward TNB people. While this research is necessary, this limited focus fails to capture a critical piece of TNB people’s lives. Gender euphoria is a sense of embodiment with oneself that stems from positive experiences associated with one’s gender. Despite being described as life-affirming, research on gender euphoria has only emerged recently. Further, scholarship on gender euphoria has yet to examine the experiences of TNB people who are multiply marginalized. To highlight some of these experiences, our study explored how TNB Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) experienced gender euphoria and how gender euphoria may serve as a mental health protective factor.

Methods. Coupling focus group methodology with creative writing, 12 BIPOC TNB adults participated in a virtual six-week writing group for an in-depth exploration of gender euphoria. Each session lasted one hour and was divided into three 20-minute blocks. The first 20-minute block was for rapport building and completing a warm-up writing exercise. The second 20 minutes was for solo writing in response to the prompts provided on gender euphoria. The remaining 20 minutes was a debrief where participants reflected on and shared excerpts from their writings. After each session, participants submitted their writings to the PIvia email. All writing submissions were de-identified by the PI and analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis, which was informed by phenomenological and narrative inquiry methods.

Results. Six themes were identified describing how participants experienced gender euphoria. (1) A fluid yet timeless experience: Participants described gender euphoria as a rare yet profound fluid and timeless experience that transcends physical appearance and binary categories. (2) A range of emotions: Gender euphoria produced a wide range of emotions, mostly positive, including joy, relief, and peace in oneself; while the few negative experiences were attributed to external factors such as oppression and exclusion. (3) Mind and body alignment: Participants described internal alignment with their mind and body, which was either supported or hindered through external factors. (4) Self-acceptance and acceptance from others: Gender euphoria was deeply tied to showing up authentically and being affirmed through the acceptance of others. (5) Community: For participants, having a supportive community of individuals with shared identities served as an important protective factor and helped build resiliency. (6) A liberating experience: Gender euphoria was described as a liberating experience that freed participants from societal shame, fear, and pressure; this allowed participants to simply exist and feel fulfilled.

Conclusions and Implications. Wilson, a participant in the study, wrote, “Gender euphoria erases the shame I grew up in and replaces it with a worthiness I never thought possible: worthiness of love, worthiness of safety, worthiness of justice." The findings of this study demonstrate that gender euphoria can serve as a mental health protective factor among TNB BIPOC. Implications for social work research, education, and practice will be discussed.