Two-thirds of Americans oppose laws limiting transgender rights: poll

Nearly two-thirds of Americans said they are opposed to laws that seek to limit the rights of transgender Americans, according to a new poll conducted by PBS NewsHour-NPR-Marist.

A slew of bills in at least 19 state legislatures have surfaced across the country that would specifically target medical treatments for transgender youth. 

Most recently, the Arkansas state legislature overturned a veto from its governor, Asa Hutchinson (R), against legislation that would ban gender-affirming care such as hormones and puberty blockers for trans minors. 

But despite these efforts, according to the survey, 66 percent of national adults oppose legislation that would prohibit transition-related medical care for minors. 

Twenty-eight percent of those surveyed said they support this kind of legislation, while 6 percent said they were unsure. 

When data was broken down along party lines, 70 percent of Republicans said they opposed this kind of legislation and 69 percent of Democrats and 64 percent of independents said the same. 

Several bills have also been introduced to prevent transgender girls specifically from playing on sports teams that align with their gender identity.

Most recently on Wednesday, the Florida state House passed a bill that would bar trans women and girls from joining a sports team that aligned with their gender. 

The Fairness in Women’s Sports Act, if signed into law, would require that sports team eligibility be based on a student’s “biological sex,” which refers to the sex assigned at birth.

In the poll, was 67 percent of national adults said that they were opposed to legislation prohibiting transgender student athletes from joining sports teams. 

Sixty-nine percent of Democrats are opposed to this kind of legislation, while 66 percent of Republicans and 67 percent of independents said the same. 

Lastly, a majority of adults — 63 percent — who participated in the poll said that they supported the 2021 Equality Act, which would protect people based on gender identity and sexual orientation. 

Thirty-two percent of Republicans said they supported such legislation, while 90 percent of Democrats and 62 percent of independents said the same. 

The poll was conducted from April 7 to 13 among 1,066 U.S. adults. It has a margin of error of 3.5 percentage points.