Gender minority people (GM; people whose gender differs from the sex that was assigned at birth) experience significant disparities in physical and mental health outcomes when compared to the general population. Exposure to minority stress, the excess and chronic stress that arises from stigma and prejudice that GM individuals are exposed to as a result of their marginalized status, has been posited to underlie the health disparities observed among GM people. Understanding the negative social attitudes (also termed societal stigma) that may underly minority stress is important to understanding sources of negative influence and structural barriers to health and well-being. However, measurement of societal stigma has been inconsistent in extant literature. The purpose of this dissertation is to evaluate potential proxy measures of societal stigma and to determine their relationship with minority stress reported by GM people and the presence of associated health outcomes. Study one examined societal stigma in relation to components of minority stress (i.e., experienced stigma, anticipated stigma, internalized stigma, and concealment) to identify which proxy measure of societal stigma most closely relates to GM people’s reports of minority stress. Study two tested the relationship between measures of societal stigma and their association to health care discrimination (a minority stressor). Study three assessed the relationship between exposure to stressors in health care and symptoms reported by GM people (i.e., emotional distress and impaired physical functioning). Study one found that that living in a state with a more SGM friendly environment (measured by the State LGBT+ Business Climate Index) was associated with less experienced stigma (β=-0.316, p=.024) and less anticipated stigma (β=-0.533, p<.001). Residing in a metropolitan area was associated with less anticipated stigma (β=-0.193, p<.001) and greater outness (β=0.053, p=.011). Study two found that, within the same sample, none of the measures of societal stigma were associated with medical or mental health care mistreatment (p>.05). Study three found that participants who had reported at least one stressor in health care during the past 12 months had a 0.10 increase in symptoms of emotional distress (β=0.14, p<.001) and were 85% more likely to have at least one symptom of physical impairment (OR=1.85, p<.001). Improved measures are needed to capture societal stigma toward GM people and further evaluate its role in GM people’s health. These results also suggest that GM people who report experiencing stressors in health care have more symptoms of emotional distress and greater odds of having a physical impairment. Improved measurement of societal stigma could contextualize where there may be variations localized societal stigma toward GM people. Further work to understand sources of societal stigma and evaluate strategies necessary to create affirming health care environments is critical to the health of GM people.