Minority joy, minority growth, and minority peace: Transgender and gender diverse people's varied positive lived experiences.

Background: Compared to negative experiences and ill health, little attention has been paid to positive experiences connected to being transgender and gender diverse (TGD). Aim: The aim of the current study was to explore TGD people's positive experiences in depth. Methods: In total, 33 TGD people were interviewed. Transcripts were analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis. Results: Results show that participants had various positive experiences related to their gender identity. While some of these experiences can be conceptualized as "minority joy," capturing experiences evoking happy emotions, others are better understood as "minority growth"-a personal development and sense of authenticity-and "minority peace"-a sense of comfortability and calmness. The emotional valence of experiences was further explored to better understand the themes. Discussion: In line with earlier research, some of the positive experiences could be seen as buffers between stressors and ill health and some were clearly connected to experiencing stressors. However, some experiences were freestanding from stressors and positive in their own right. The results of this study give an alternative to the prevailing view of TGD experiences necessarily connected to suffering. The results are relevant for professionals meeting TGD people, since a focus on strengths and positive aspects could be an important, but previously under focused tool to improve general health and quality of life. It may give hope to TGD people themselves, who are often presented with the trope of the suffering TGD person. Not the least, results could inform general society and policy makers.