A call for "Trans-action": The role of enacted stigma in mediating the relationship between school climate and school attachment among gender minority students

Abstract

Several studies have highlighted the association between enacted stigma with various mental health and educational disparities among sexual minority students, but fewer have done so with an exclusive gender minority sample and even less have included school attachment as an outcome measure. The purpose of the current analyses is to test the main effects that an LGBTQ-inclusive school context as well as enacted stigma has on school attachment, and whether enacted stigma acts as a mediator. Results show that exposure to enacted stigma is a risk factor for low school attachment, while a supportive LGBTQ-inclusive school climate is a protective one, and that the relationship between an inclusive climate and school attachment is significantly mediated by enacted stigma. Within a theoretically informed lens, these findings represent a notable contribution to educational research in terms of the importance of providing a healthy school environment for gender minority students.