Transgender Treatment Poll Reveals How Most Americans Really Feel

While moral debates persist, a majority stand against legislative bans on gender-affirming treatments for minors.

A Country Divided

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The United States of America has long been known as a country divided. 

Hot Button Topic

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The topic of transgender rights and gender-affirming care is no exception for a hot debate among American citizens. 

A Look at Recent Data

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Recent data from Gallup’s latest polls show that 51% of Americans believe that changing one’s gender is not morally right. 

Morally Acceptable?

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This is compared to 44% of Americans who believe that it is a morally acceptable decision to make. 

Overwhelming Majority Against Bans

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But, regardless of the moral split, more than 6 in 10 American adults do not support creating legislative bans on gender-affirming care for transgender youth. 

The Complexity

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The moral vs. legislative split goes to show how complex this debate has become. 

Shut Down in Florida

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The U.S. District Court in Florida recently shut down the state’s attempted ban on medical treatments for transgender minors and declared it unconstitutional. 

Alabama Pushes Through

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Meanwhile, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Alabama voted to uphold their own laws banning transgender treatment for minors called the Vulnerable Child Compassion and Protection Act. 

Fragmented Opinions

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American opinions on gender-affirming care for minors are very fragmented across the two sides of the aisle. 

Liberal and Democratic Stance

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Recent data shows that 81% of political liberals and 72% of Democrats do not find any moral issue with the care. 

A Look at Religion

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Additionally, 67% of the religiously unaffiliated and 59% of infrequent churchgoers do not morally object to gender-affirming care. 

The Younger Generations

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The same trends can be seen in young adults (56%) and college graduates (53%). 

The Conservative Stance

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The conservative, religious, and older generations land on the opposite end of this spectrum, believing gender-affirming care is immoral. 

Female Voters Split

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Women voters are quite split on the issue, shockingly more fragmented than male voters. 

The Stats

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Current data shows that 48% of female voters believe that changing one’s gender is morally acceptable, while 39% do not. 

Lack of Support Remains

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Regardless of their moral standing on the issue of transgender healthcare for minors, the majority of Americans do not support legislative bans on the care. 

Gender-Affirming Care

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Gender-affirming care, which includes both psychological counseling and various medical therapies, has taken center stage in swing states as the election looms near. 

A Look at the Legislative Map

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As of now, 25 states have laws or policies that restrict transgender minor’s access to life-saving care. 

Advocacy Groups Fight Back

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It is also important to note that many of these states are now undergoing legal challenges on laws as advocacy and human rights groups fight back. 

Values and Beliefs Poll

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The survey conducted by Gallup, called the annual Values and Beliefs Poll, asked the public about the bans in two different ways. 

Changing the Phrasing

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First, they asked what citizens thought about bans specifically on “treatments and medical procedures” while the other question was phrased to include “psychological support, hormonal treatments, and medical surgeries”.

Only One-Third

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Results did not vary too much between the two questions, showing that only ⅓ of U.S. adults support the legislative bans. 

Across the Aisle

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Looking at the different political parties, Republicans (53%) were much more inclined than both the Democrats (25%) and the independents (34%) to support the bans. 

Wording Matters

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The survey found that Republican support for the anti-trans legislation drops to 45% when the question is worded more vaguely, while the other two parties remained steady. 

Data on Generational Identification

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Gallup’s survey data also showed that only 0.9% of U.S. adults identify as transgender, with the largest population falling within Gen Z. 

Why the Divide?

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There are many reasons why American adults may be split on the issue of not morally supporting transgender youth but also not supporting a legislative ban on their care. 

Don’t Take My Guns (Or My Cigarettes)

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It could be due to American’s general lack of support for any type of ban (i.e. smoking, guns) or due to the wording of the proposed legislation. 

Republican Divide

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There is still quite a gap between grassroots Republican opinion on the matter compared to Republican-majority legislatures, creating a possible rift in the Republican party. 

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