Acceptance of Trans Identity in American Society Going Too Far: Poll

A participant with a face mask in a lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) pride parade in Pristina, Kosovo, on July 1, 2021. Armend Nimani/AFP via Getty Images

A rising number of Americans are saying that the country has been more accepting of transgender identities than necessary, data from the latest NBC News poll show.

The poll asked survey respondents whether American society has a) gone too far in accepting transgender people, b) not gone far enough in ending discrimination against transgender people, or c) reached a reasonable balance when it comes to this issue.

While 33 percent of survey participants agreed with option a), 35 percent went with option b) while 25 percent went with option c). When the same questions were posed back in August 2021, only 26 percent agreed that acceptance of transgender people had gone too far. That’s almost a 27 percent increase, within 9 months. The poll, conducted May 5–7 and May 9–10, involved 1,000 adults.

In a survey published on May 12 by the American Principles Project (APP), 56 percent of voters in swing states supported banning cross-sex hormones, puberty blockers, and physical sex-change surgeries for children under the age of 18 who identify as transgender. This included 46 percent who supported the ban strongly.

Among the 34 percent who said they opposed such a ban, only 20 percent identified as Republicans while more than 50 percent identified as Democrats.

While 63 percent of respondents argued that children under the age of 18 are too young to make decisions on these matters, 22 percent called such opposition bigoted and transphobic.

“The truth is that these are common sense views held by most Americans, even in highly competitive battleground states,” Terry Schilling, president of APP, said in a press release.

The polls come amid concerns about extremist transgender policies being promoted in schools. In Wisconsin, three male middle school students are facing sexual harassment charges after a fellow student blamed them for using incorrect gender pronouns.

Rosemary Rabidoux, a parent of one of the accused, was shocked when she received a call from the principal warning about the sexual harassment charge. She was flabbergasted about what her son had done, Rabidoux told Fox 11.

“I’m thinking, sexual harassment? That’s rape, that’s inappropriate touching, that’s incest … (The investigating principal) said he’s being allegedly charged with sexual harassment for not using proper pronouns,” Rabidoux said. “I thought it wasn’t real. I thought this has got to be a gag, a joke—one has nothing to do with the other.”

Last month, families of middle school students in Oklahoma’s Stillwater Area Public Schools raised concerns after the district enforced the Biden administration’s policies of allowing transgender students to use bathrooms that match their gender identities, enabling biological males to share bathrooms with females.