Psychologists Can't Figure Out Why Hardly Anyone Wants to Date a Trans Person

A recent Journal of Social and Personal Relationships study found that nearly 90 percent of survey respondents are not interested in dating transgender people. In a Psychology Today article on the study, coauthor Karen Blair implies these findings demonstrate significant discrimination—or at least an unwillingness to be inclusive—in dating.

The results showed “87.5% of the participants who were asked this very question only checked off the cisgender options and excluded transgender and non-binary individuals from their hypothetical dating pool.”

Blair explains how important finding love is to happiness. Hardly anyone would disagree with her there. Then she goes on to say, “If very few people are willing to date trans people, what does this mean for their health and well-being? If trans and non-binary people lack access to one of the most stable sources of social support, this could explain some of the existing health disparities within trans communities.”

Instead of analyzing why this might be the case, or what it might say about the transgender movement, Blair immediately assumes trans people are being actively excluded, even discriminated against. Obviously, her logic goes, nearly 900 people are wrong.