Beyond the Gender Gap: The Political Attitudes and Behaviour of Trans and Non-Binary Individuals

Abstract: A growing number of individuals identify as transgender or non-binary -- that is, as neither men nor women. How do transgender and non-binary people differ from cisgender (non-transgender) men and women in their political attitudes and behaviours? This question has traditionally been difficult to study, due to the tendency for surveys not to ask questions that can identify transgender and non-binary respondents and the small number of transgender and non-binary respondents in conventional survey samples. We overcome these challenges by using data from the 2019 and 2021 Canadian Election Study online panels (N = 37,822 in 2019, N = 22,328), which have relatively large sub-samples of transgender and non-binary respondents. We re-examine gender gaps in party identification, vote intention, voter turnout, issue attitudes, political efficacy, and satisfaction with democracy. We find that transgender and/or non-binary individuals have distinct political attitudes and behaviours from cisgender men and women, including cisgender lesbian, gay, bisexual, and queer (LGBQ) men and women, on several of these variables.