In the current political climate, anti-transgender and gender diverse (TGD) legislation is introduced and enacted into law across the United States each year. Yet, activism and policy action related to TGD issues are under studied. The aim of this dissertation was to identify the prevalence of TGD related activism and TGD policy action and explore four motivators (i.e., political salience, community connectedness, social movement organization involvement, and political efficacy) that influence participation in general activism and policy action and TGD activism and TGD policy action. Extant literature exploring activism and policy action does not consider TGD or cisgender individuals’s motivations for participating in specifically TGD activism or TGD policy action. An explanatory sequential mixed methods design was conducted in two phases. Phase 1 of the study, a cross-sectional survey (N = 954), found participants were more likely to participate in TGD activism compared to TGD policy action. Further, TGD participants were more likely to participate in TGD activism and TGD policy action compared to cisgender participants. When it comes to previous motivators identified in the broader activism and policy action literature, this study confirmed that political salience, community connectedness, and social movement organization involvement are correlated with TGD activism and social TGD policy action. However, structural equation modeling found the relationship between motivators and TGD activism was influenced by gender. For TGD activism, social movement organization involvement was a motivator across transgender, nonbinary, and cisgender participants; community connectedness was a motivator for nonbinary and cisgender participants; and political salience was a motivator for cisgender participants. For TGD policy action, social movement organization involvement was the only motivator prevalent across transgender, nonbinary, and cisgender participants. In Phase 2 of this study, focus groups (n = 5) and an interview (n = 1) with a total of 22 individuals were conducted to explain and provide context for the Phase 1 results. In Phase 2, five themes were identified that provide guidance for interpreting the results from Phase 1: (a) gender impacts access and safety for participation—gender is nuanced and complex among TGD individuals and multiple marginalized identities may influence participation in TGD activism and TGD policy action; (b) skin in the game—regardless of gender, individuals who participate in TGD activism and/or TGD policy action do so because of a perceived direct threat based on a personal connection to TGD justice whether through their own identity or relationships with TGD individuals; (c) performative allyship is not enough—the various activities and behaviors that range from low-risk and low-cost to high-risk and high-cost an individual must consider prior to engaging in TGD activism and/or TGD policy action; (d) barriers to policy action—the complexity and disillusionment with the current political system; and (e) social movement organizations reduce barriers—the ways social movement organizations bridge the gap in civic education and engagement. The findings from this dissertation provide insight on who participates and what motivates those individuals to participate in TGD activism and TGD policy action. This knowledge can guide strategies and initiatives for community mobilization and organizing that engage individuals to participate across a spectrum of activities that support, defend, and advance TGD justice.
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