According to a recent Pew Research Center study, the American population has a variety of opinions on the issue of transgender ideology. A majority of Americans favor legislation that would protect transgender people from discrimination in the workplace, in housing, and public places, and around eight out of ten feel there is at least some prejudice against transgender persons in our society. However, 60% of people, up from 54% in 2017 and 56% in 2021, believe that a person’s gender is defined by their sex at birth.
Based on the research from Pew, 58% of Americans support legislation that would require transgender athletes to play on teams that correspond to the sex they were born, 17% say they would oppose such legislation, and Around 25% said they would neither favor nor oppose it.
58% of Americans would favor laws that would require transgender athletes to compete on teams that match the sex they were assigned at birth. 17% would oppose these laws and about a quarter neither favor nor oppose. https://t.co/VVHxY0o54Z pic.twitter.com/GZRduAFVM5
— Pew Research Center (@pewresearch) June 28, 2022
There is much disagreement among the general population over how far our society has gone in embracing transgender people. A reported 38% believe it has gone too far, while 36% believe it hasn’t gone far enough. Roughly one in four people believe that things have been about right. Even among those who see at least some discrimination against trans individuals, the majority (54%) believe that society has either gone too far or been about right in terms of acceptance.
Young adults are leading the charge on change and acceptance concerning gender identity. About 50% of adults between the ages of 18 and 29 believe people can be either men or women even if it is different from the sex they were born. This contrasts with roughly four out of ten people in the 30 to 49 age group and about a third of those in the 50+ age group. Younger adults are also more likely than older ones to believe that society hasn’t made enough progress toward embracing transgender people.
