Fostering equitable research partnerships with transgender, nonbinary, and gender-expansive communities: Lessons learned and challenges navigated.

Transgender, nonbinary, and gender expansive (TNGE) communities continue to call for research partnerships that center their voices and lived experiences. However, extant literature provides limited accounts of strategies researchers could employ when engaging TNGE people. Using a case study and informed by the Community-Based Collaborative Action Research (CBCAR) framework, we describe lessons learned and challenges we overcame when forming, operating, and maintaining of a community collaborative group (CCG). Lessons learned highlight the importance of building relationships grounded in trust, shared decision-making, and equalized power dynamics to foster inclusive and active engagement in all phases of research. Challenges include navigating logistical barriers. Findings demonstrate that the CBCARframework supports culturally informed and community-engaged research with TNGE communities. Establishing a CCG enhances mutual learning, promotes equitable relationships, and strengthens research relevance, trust, and impact through community-centered engagement.