Italian political agendas on LGBTQIA+ issues: perceived stigma and civic engagement among sexual and gender marginalized communities

Introduction: Structural stigma in public policies exacerbates minority stress for LGBTQIA+ individuals. This study explores the impact of Italy’s political climate on perceived stigma and civic engagement within the LGBTQIA+ population, following the inauguration of a conservative government that made a political agenda with explicit negative references to LGBTQIA+ individuals. Grounded in minority stress, social safety, intersectionality, and relative deprivation theories, the research also explores differences in perceived stigma across community subgroups. Methods: Data were collected from 619 LGBTQIA+ individuals via an online questionnaire between November and December 2022. Latent class analysis (LCA) was used to identify stigma-related class profiles. Results: LCA identified two main groups: marginalized (mostly cisgender, monosexual, experiencing no or single form of oppression and congruence between gender identity and ID) and intersectionally marginalized (predominantly transgender/nonbinary, plurisexual/asexual, experiencing multiple forms of oppression and incongruence between gender identity and ID). Intersectionally marginalized individuals reported higher levels of perceived stigma and civic engagement than their marginalized counterparts. Conclusions: This study highlights the disparities in stigma experiences within the LGBTQIA+ community and the protective role of civic engagement as a resilience strategy against minority stress. Policy Implications: There is an urgent need for policies and interventions tailored to support Italy’s LGBTQIA+ communities, particularly those intersecting multiple marginalized identities. Comprehensive anti-discrimination laws are needed to protect individuals from hate crimes, and institutions must provide financial support to LGBTQIA+ organizations to empower them in creating community resources that mitigate stigma.