Transgender people experience more discrimination and violence than cisgender lesbian, gay, or bisexual people: A multilevel analysis across 30 European countries

Introduction: Considering recent waves of transphobia, it is crucial to comprehensively research transgender people's experiences with discrimination and violence. This study investigates the extent of discrimination and violence experienced by trans people and cisgender lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) people in Europe. We explore how these experiences vary across countries, how they are affected by a person's disability and ethnic minority background, and whether experiences vary between trans women, trans men, and nonbinary people. Method: = 138,212). The 2019 Rainbow Europe Country Ranking was included as a country-level predictor. Results: Our findings demonstrated that trans people reported consistently more discrimination and violence than cisgender LGB people throughout Europe, irrespective of the countries' rankings of LGBTQ+ rights. This difference was more pronounced among participants with ethnic minority backgrounds and disabilities. Results also varied across genders as trans women and nonbinary people reported more violence than trans men, whereas trans men and trans women both reported more discrimination than nonbinary people. Conclusions: This study provides compelling evidence of disproportionately negative experiences of trans people in Europe. The findings underscore the need for policy interventions and future studies addressing discrimination and violence faced by trans people.