Unshared spaces: a field experiment on the politico-cultural contexts of housing discrimination against transgender and nonbinary persons in Germany

Abstract The paper examines the prevalence and mechanisms of discrimination in the informal shared housing market against transgender and nonbinary persons. Employing a correspondence test, the study investigates the responses to fictitious applications from transgender and nonbinary individuals to shared apartment offers in Germany. The findings reveal significant discrimination against these groups, with varying degrees of discrimination across different cities. The lowest levels of discrimination were observed in cities with high proportions of religiously unaffiliated, where preventive policies had been implemented by the states and where political polarization was high. The study contributes to understanding the challenges faced by transgender and nonbinary individuals in accessing affordable housing and highlights the relevance of structural conditions for everyday discrimination.