Coping with stress due to gender prejudice in Chilean transgender people: New findings using a qualitative approach

BACKGROUND: Like other nations, in Chile, transgender people confront high levels of prejudice operating across structural, interpersonal, and individual levels. The Minority Stress Model indicates that prejudice-related stress is related to worse health indicators. Coping has been used to understand how people deal with this prejudice-derived stress. This study describes and characterizes how gender ‘prejudice is managed and coped with among transgender people in Chile. METHODS: We used a snowball sample to recruit 26 transgender Chileans. The inclusion criteria were to be Chileans or lived in Chile last 6 months, identify as transgender and be 18 years old. We used a semi-structured interview guide with open-ended questions to capture the subjective self-designation of gender identification. Interviews lasted approximately 75 minutes. We used thematic and critical discourse analyses to identify themes and subthemes. RESULTS: The results indicate that all participants experienced prejudice at different times and varied intensities. Prejudice occurs at home, where parents dońt accept this identity, & at school in the form of bullying. Prejudices were also suffered in health centers & hospitals, where doctors exercised prejudice. Prejudice also depended on the period of the transition process. Prejudice was most intense at the beginning of the transition process & decreased as transition progressed. The results showed that trans-identifying persons used the following coping strategies: self-concealment, performing their gender (e.g., more feminine appearance), & advocacy for their rights & education. Each strategy is used in varied situations & by how one defined oneself. CONCLUSIONS: Coping strategies & the concept of coping must be revisited among trans-identifying persons. The coping strategies used are relevant for planning clinical and social interventions aimed at trans people who still live in prejudice due to their identity in many countries.