Finding Our Strength 2026
Próximamente: traducción al Español!
What to expect
To protect participant privacy and reduce emotional burden, we do not ask for:
- Personally identifying information
- Documentation status
- Traumatic experiences
- Experiences of discrimination
Participants must be trans/gender diverse, 18/+, and live in the U.S. The survey will take about 20 minutes to complete; insights will inform programming and advocacy efforts across the U.S.
Findings will be shared with trans-led organizations across the U.S. to advance supportive programs and well-being for our community! See how FOS16 created an impact!
Survey Aims
Our aim is to understand how discrimination worry affects the health and well-being of transgender and gender diverse adults, how the TGD community copes, and what factors protect or put TGD individuals at risk, so we can turn those findings into resources that serve the TGD community and our coalition partners.
FOS Objectives:
- Measure how worried T/GD folks are about discrimination across all areas of daily life — and how that worry relates to health
- Understand the impact of anti-trans policies on the TGD community’s well-being
- Document the gender journey, including milestones people have reached, and whether there are additional steps they want but haven’t accessed
- Identify which coping strategies the TGD community actually uses in general and within specific settings (school, work, healthcare)
- Examine the roles of self-compassion and social support in protecting health against the effects minority stress
- Compare findings to the original 2016 Finding Our Strength survey to track how things have changed over a decade of anti-trans legislation
- Capture community strengths, resilience, and advice in the TGD community’s own words
- Produce actionable resources, such as infographics, reports, exhibits, and psychoeducational tools
Próximamente: traducción al Español!
We’re working with our partner and survey sponsor, Bridging Languages, to provide a gender-neutral Spanish version of the survey. Stay tuned!
Coalition Partners
We thank our coalition partners for sharing in the collective effort – ensuring that this research meets the needs of the TGD community, providing input at each phase of the research lifecycle, and dreaming together of ways to translate results into action.
Learn more about the FOS Coalition, including how to join!
Brave Space Alliance
Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition
The Knights of Orchid Society
TransInclusive Group
Trans Joy Boise
Transgender Resource Center of New Mexico
Survey Sponsors
We thank the University of Michigan School of Social Work for providing academic resources and support that made this survey possible. We also thank Bridging Languages for ensuring this important work is inclusive of Spanish-speaking Latine folks.
