Relationship stigma negatively impacts the relationship quality of trans women
BackgroundTrans women face negative health outcomes due to multiple types of anti-trans stigma. Relationship stigma, or when people experience stigma because their romantic partnerships are devalued by society, can negatively impact experiences in relationships of trans women. Relationships and thei...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2025-06-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Global Women's Health |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fgwh.2025.1533060/full |
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| author | Emily S. Schuler Pilar C. Sharp Omotayo N. Fasan Araya J. McNeal Tae-Young Zajkowski Vinita Saxena Audrey Xu Bow Suprasert Sean Arayasirikul Alexander J. Marr Kelly D. Taylor Willi McFarland Erin C. Wilson |
| author_facet | Emily S. Schuler Pilar C. Sharp Omotayo N. Fasan Araya J. McNeal Tae-Young Zajkowski Vinita Saxena Audrey Xu Bow Suprasert Sean Arayasirikul Alexander J. Marr Kelly D. Taylor Willi McFarland Erin C. Wilson |
| author_sort | Emily S. Schuler |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | BackgroundTrans women face negative health outcomes due to multiple types of anti-trans stigma. Relationship stigma, or when people experience stigma because their romantic partnerships are devalued by society, can negatively impact experiences in relationships of trans women. Relationships and their quality are important predictors of wellness across populations, but little is known about relationship quality for trans women. This study was conducted to determine whether relationship stigma is associated with relationship quality for trans women with main partners.MethodsThis is a secondary analysis of data from 89 trans women with main partners enrolled in the 2020 Partners Study, an online, interviewer-administered, cross-sectional survey of trans women in the San Francisco Bay Area. Multivariate logistic was used to test for an association between relationship stigma and relationship quality among trans women with main partners.ResultsThe trans women surveyed were White (29.2%), Latinx (24.7%), or multiracial (23.6%), with the majority having never been married (65.2%). Those who often felt they must hide their partnerships had significantly lower odds of reporting satisfaction with intimacy and closeness in their relationships [odds ratio (OR): 0.07; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.01–0.68, p = 0.02] and of reporting satisfaction with their overall relationship (OR: 0.02; 95% CI: 0.02–0.34, p < 0.01). Those whose families were not supportive of their partnerships had significantly lower odds of reporting relationship satisfaction, intimacy, and closeness with their main partners (OR: 0.08; 95% CI: 0.01–0.85, p = 0.04) and of reporting satisfaction with their overall relationship (OR: 0.08; 95% CI: 0.00, 0.51, p = 0.01).ConclusionsRelationship stigma was negatively associated with relationship quality for trans women with main partners in this study. Stigma from family also had a significant negative impact on relationship quality, suggesting the important influence of family on trans women's relationships. Efforts to boost family support may foster intimacy and improve relationship satisfaction for trans women in main partnerships. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-f3a68284c3264377b1fd5cc08d40ab04 |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2673-5059 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-06-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Global Women's Health |
| spelling | doaj-art-f3a68284c3264377b1fd5cc08d40ab042025-08-20T02:31:12ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Global Women's Health2673-50592025-06-01610.3389/fgwh.2025.15330601533060Relationship stigma negatively impacts the relationship quality of trans womenEmily S. Schuler0Pilar C. Sharp1Omotayo N. Fasan2Araya J. McNeal3Tae-Young Zajkowski4Vinita Saxena5Audrey Xu6Bow Suprasert7Sean Arayasirikul8Alexander J. Marr9Kelly D. Taylor10Willi McFarland11Erin C. Wilson12Department of Medicine, Health and Society, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, United StatesGillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, United StatesSchool of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania Perelman, Philadelphia, PA, United StatesDepartment of Biology and Gender, Sexuality, and Women's Studies, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, United StatesDepartment of Psychology and Cognitive Science, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, United StatesRollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, United StatesDepartment of Human Biology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, United StatesSan Francisco Department of Public Health, Center for Public Health Research, San Francisco, CA, United StatesDepartment of Health, Society and Behavior, University of California Irvine, Irvine, CA, United States0Institute for Global Health Sciences, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, United States0Institute for Global Health Sciences, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, United States1San Francisco Department of Public Health, Public Health Research, Center for Public Health Research, San Francisco, CA, United StatesSan Francisco Department of Public Health, Center for Public Health Research, San Francisco, CA, United StatesBackgroundTrans women face negative health outcomes due to multiple types of anti-trans stigma. Relationship stigma, or when people experience stigma because their romantic partnerships are devalued by society, can negatively impact experiences in relationships of trans women. Relationships and their quality are important predictors of wellness across populations, but little is known about relationship quality for trans women. This study was conducted to determine whether relationship stigma is associated with relationship quality for trans women with main partners.MethodsThis is a secondary analysis of data from 89 trans women with main partners enrolled in the 2020 Partners Study, an online, interviewer-administered, cross-sectional survey of trans women in the San Francisco Bay Area. Multivariate logistic was used to test for an association between relationship stigma and relationship quality among trans women with main partners.ResultsThe trans women surveyed were White (29.2%), Latinx (24.7%), or multiracial (23.6%), with the majority having never been married (65.2%). Those who often felt they must hide their partnerships had significantly lower odds of reporting satisfaction with intimacy and closeness in their relationships [odds ratio (OR): 0.07; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.01–0.68, p = 0.02] and of reporting satisfaction with their overall relationship (OR: 0.02; 95% CI: 0.02–0.34, p < 0.01). Those whose families were not supportive of their partnerships had significantly lower odds of reporting relationship satisfaction, intimacy, and closeness with their main partners (OR: 0.08; 95% CI: 0.01–0.85, p = 0.04) and of reporting satisfaction with their overall relationship (OR: 0.08; 95% CI: 0.00, 0.51, p = 0.01).ConclusionsRelationship stigma was negatively associated with relationship quality for trans women with main partners in this study. Stigma from family also had a significant negative impact on relationship quality, suggesting the important influence of family on trans women's relationships. Efforts to boost family support may foster intimacy and improve relationship satisfaction for trans women in main partnerships.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fgwh.2025.1533060/fulltrans womencouplesrelationship qualitystigmarelationship stigma |
| spellingShingle | Emily S. Schuler Pilar C. Sharp Omotayo N. Fasan Araya J. McNeal Tae-Young Zajkowski Vinita Saxena Audrey Xu Bow Suprasert Sean Arayasirikul Alexander J. Marr Kelly D. Taylor Willi McFarland Erin C. Wilson Relationship stigma negatively impacts the relationship quality of trans women Frontiers in Global Women's Health trans women couples relationship quality stigma relationship stigma |
| title | Relationship stigma negatively impacts the relationship quality of trans women |
| title_full | Relationship stigma negatively impacts the relationship quality of trans women |
| title_fullStr | Relationship stigma negatively impacts the relationship quality of trans women |
| title_full_unstemmed | Relationship stigma negatively impacts the relationship quality of trans women |
| title_short | Relationship stigma negatively impacts the relationship quality of trans women |
| title_sort | relationship stigma negatively impacts the relationship quality of trans women |
| topic | trans women couples relationship quality stigma relationship stigma |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fgwh.2025.1533060/full |
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