"At Its Core, Islam Is About Standing With the Oppressed": Exploring Transgender Muslims' Religious Resilience

Inquiries into positive transgender development are particularly important given the high rates of gender-based victimization and limited mental health resources. Moreover, transgender Muslims may encounter multiple forms of minority stress as a religious minority, gender minority and often as immigrant and ethnic minorities as well. There are few psychological studies at present that address the religious and spiritual lives of transgender individuals. The current exploratory study therefore used a mixed-methods design to explore the religious and mental health experiences of 15 transgender Muslims. Participants completed a series of religious, mental health and identity development measures as well as open-ended questions regarding their religious and family dynamics. Fourteen of the 15 transgender Muslim participants narrated a challenging coming-out event, however the average depression scores for the sample were moderate and self-esteem scores were within the normal range. Although a larger, longitudinal sample is required to conduct a statistical analysis of the mediating factors, qualitative analysis suggested that 8 of the 15 participants used religion and spirituality as important coping tools (e.g., Allah, Quran, liberation theology). The present study's exploratory and descriptive analyses help build a stronger theoretical foundation for understanding both the positive and negative aspects of religiosity and spirituality in transgender Muslim lives. Furthermore, this study highlights the need for more complex qualitative and quantitative analyses of gender minorities' religious resilience and identity development experiences.