What does strength look like for racially minoritized transgender and gender-expansive young adults? Elucidating resilience at the intersections of gender, race, and ethnicity.

Racially minoritized transgender and gender expansive (i.e., gender identities that exist beyond the cisgender binary of male or female) young adults (RMTGEYA) experience both individual-level and structural stigma that negatively impacts mental health outcomes. RMTGEYA have any array of strength resources that are tied to culture, community, and identity that are vital resources for mental health. Unfortunately, they are rarely included in the research literature. We aimed to qualitatively spotlight resilience resources as sources of standalone strength possessed by RMTGEYA as well as tools for mitigating the impact of stigma. We interviewed 16 RMTGEYA and conducted thematic analyses on their responses to questions on topics of strength, stigma, and mental health. Results of team-based thematic analysis yielded a reliable codebook (Krippendorff's α = 0.87) from which we derived 5 major themes related to: 1) internal strength; 2) collectivist strength; 3) intersectional strength; 4) macro-level strengths and privileges; and 5) strength in the absence of macro-level supports that are not always adequate in the presence of greater structural oppression. RMTGEYA's are abundant with strength, but there is opportunity for clinical science and practice to leverage these strengths to improve mental health outcomes. Our results spotlight the importance of taking a strength-based approach to research, assessment, and intervention that also promotes advocacy for better structural supports to materially improve the lives off RMTGEYA.