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- Original article Being trans in South Korea: key milestones and stigmatization across life stages in a nationwide survey of 585 transgender and nonbinary young adults
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Sungsub Choo4
, Ranyeong Kim3
, Hyemin Lee2
, Horim Yi5
, Rockli Kim6,7
, Seung-Sup Kim1
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Epidemiol Health 2025;e2025032
DOI: https://doi.org/10.4178/epih.e2025032 [Accepted]
Published online: June 27, 2025
2Department of Psychology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, United States
3Policy Research Team, Department of Policy Research, Policy Headquarters, Korea Disabled People’s Development Institute, Seoul, Korea
4School of Public Health, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA , United States
5Solidarity for LGBT Human Rights of Korea, Seoul, Korea
6Division of Health Policy and Management, College of Health Science, Korea University, Seoul, Korea
7Interdisciplinary Program in Precision Public Health, Department of Public Health Sciences, Graduate School of Korea University, Seoul, Korea
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Corresponding author:
Seung-Sup Kim,
Email: kim.seungsup@snu.ac.kr
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Abstract
OBJECTIVES
Understanding the experiences of transgender and nonbinary (TGNB) individuals from a life-course perspective is essential. This article aims to identify ages at key milestones related to transgender identity and assess experiences of stigmatization among TGNB individuals across different life stages.
METHODS
We analyzed data from a nationwide longitudinal survey of 585 TGNB adults in South Korea collected in 2020 and 2021. Analysis of variance and chi-square test were used to compare mean ages at transgender identity developmental milestones and experiences of anti-transgender stigma across transgender identities.
RESULTS
On average, TGNB Koreans realized their transgender identity at age 13, accepted it at age 20, and came out to others at age 21. Regarding experiences of stigmatization across different life stages, 67.4% reported hearing homophobic and transphobic remarks from teachers in secondary school. Among TGNB individuals assigned male at birth (AMAB) who served mandatory military service, 29.0% were classified as maladjusted soldiers, and 12.1% experienced sexual harassment or violence. When asked about the job application process, 57.0% reported discontinuing their job search due to their transgender identity. Financial burden represented the primary barrier to psychiatric evaluations, hormone treatment, and gender-affirming surgery.
CONCLUSIONS
Our study identifies key milestone ages related to transgender identity and experiences of stigmatization across life stages among TGNB adults in South Korea. With 97.6% of participants under 40 years old, these findings primarily reflect the experiences of TGNB young adults. Further research is necessary to better understand the experiences of middle-aged and elderly TGNB individuals in South Korea.
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