"I think they mean to exterminate us": Nonbinary people's experiences of trauma, stress, and grief related to the sociopolitical climate.

The current sociopolitical climate has become increasingly more hostile toward trans and nonbinary (TNB) people as legislation that negatively impacts the TNB community continues to be introduced. The widespread attacks on the TNB community may align with definitions of sociopolitical trauma due to the sudden, ongoing, and severe impacts of the sociopolitical climate on TNB people individually and collectively. Nonbinary people may be particularly negatively affected by social attitudes and legislation that reinforce essentialist binary views of gender. This study aimed to understand how the current sociopolitical climate is impacting nonbinary people's mental health using mixed methods. Specifically, thematic analysis was used to analyze write-in responses to a survey question and chi-square analyses to examine whether the endorsement of qualitative themes differed based on race, gender expression, and geographical location. The themes generated were experiencing trauma and stress related to sociopolitical climate; grieving the loss of self and relatedness to others/society; emotional impacts of trauma, stress, and loss; and resistance to trauma. The chi-square analyses found that participants in rural areas endorsed higher levels of loss of authenticity, and gender-nonconforming participants endorsed higher levels of loss of potential future. Findings from this study present further conceptualizations of sociopolitical trauma and stress among the TNB community. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).