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Anti-health legislation and its impact on the health and well-being of the gender-expansive community
Leitner, Sara Jane
Leitner, Sara Jane
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d25011_Leitner.pdf
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2025-05
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Dissertation
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Electronic dissertation
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The rights of gender-expansive individuals, and more specifically the transgender community, have become the public target of a nationwide political and social campaign by the Republican Party, who have spent hundreds of millions of dollars on political advertisements pointedly spreading misinformation with the purpose of stoking public fear and rejection of G.E. people (Simmons-Duffin, 2024; Trans Legislation Tracker, n.d.). Their stated reason for this campaign is to effectively “erase” the G.E. community through social rejection and the passing of sweeping legislation that ranges from banning G.E. people from public activities and facilities to federally criminalizing physicians who provide gender-affirming care (Olsavsky et al., 2023). Prior research has largely focused on gaining quantitative insight on health outcomes, but few provide rich qualitative insight into the personal experiences of G.E. individuals and how this campaign has directly impacted their quality of life and mental wellbeing.
Results identified five broad themes: legislative impact, social acceptance, familial dynamics, inner-community dynamics, and maintenance of mental health. The essential, invariant structure described the essence of gender-expansive people’s experiences and was thoroughly validated through the process of member checking with every participant. The findings indicate that gender-expansive people, specifically transgender women, encounter resistance, harassment, and vilification on every ecological level, and that it is directly contributing to worsening mental health outcomes. The present study is the only identifiable phenomenological exploration of gender-expansive lived experiences. The results suggest that this is an appropriate framework for understanding the experiences and wellbeing of gender-expansive individuals.
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Thesis (Ph.D.)-- Wichita State University, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Dept. of Psychology
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Wichita State University
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© Copyright 2025 by Sara Jane Leitner
All Rights Reserved.