Examining the elevated risk of COVID-19 in transgender communities with an intersectional lens

COVID-19 has presented unique and unprecedented struggles for all people, yet they tend to be magnified among marginalized communities. Indeed, in the United States, transgender (trans) people experience oppression in many facets of their lives, which places them at an increased risk for both COVID-19 exposure and complications. This oppression can be broadly categorized into two distinct, yet interrelated categories: health disparities (e.g., decreased immune health) and structural barriers (e.g., employment discrimination, policing). Recent scholarship has examined trans people’s risk for COVID-19 exposure and mortality, however few articles examine intersectional identities, and, to our knowledge, none have interrogated oppressive power structures (e.g., the prison industrial complex). We aim to fill these critical gaps and argue that it is imperative for cisgender people to partner with trans communities to dismantle these harmful systems, positively impacting the lives of trans individuals during the pandemic and beyond. We make several key recommendations for researchers, policymakers, healthcare workers, and allies to do so.