“An environment of fear no matter where I go”: A mixed-methods examination of transgender and gender diverse experiences while facing antitransgender legislation.

Even under the best of circumstances, transgender and gender-diverse (TGD) individuals face well-documented social and health disparities. In recent years, more than 2,000 legislative and policy-based initiatives have aimed to limit the rights of TGD individuals in accessing gender-affirming health care, sports, and public facilities. These legislative efforts represent a structural stressor that compounds the interpersonal stressors that TGD individuals already face, potentially leading to elevated psychological distress. However, TGD individuals exist within a constellation of experiences that can positively and negatively influence psychological distress. Qualitative and quantitative data from TGD participants from the United States (N = 346) were collected in the context of the ongoing antitransgender legislation. Participants answered questions related to interpersonal and structural stressors, community connection, and social support, as well as open-ended questions asking about the impacts of antitransgender legislation. Quantitative data, assessed using psychometric network analysis, suggested that structural stressors related to antitransgender legislation had a significantly stronger relationship with psychological distress than everyday experiences of discrimination. Results further indicated that social support played a vital role in reducing psychological distress. Qualitative data were assessed using reflexive thematic analysis. A thematic framework with four themes was developed: (1) proximal and distal impacts of legislation, (2) mobility and agency, (3) experiences of privilege, and (4) profound psychological distress. Taken together, results demonstrate the existential threat faced by TGD individuals in the current sociopolitical environment while highlighting the important role that systems of social support play in bolstering psychological well-being. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).