Public Opposition Mounts As Media Accounts Spotlight Transgender Tragedies

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Contact: Rebecca Hain

Telephone: 513-479-3335

Public Opposition Mounts As Media Accounts Spotlight Transgender Tragedies

February 14, 2024 – Abandoned by her birth-mother at an early age, Jennifer Kolstad had experienced a variety of mental health problems. After she began to identify as a boy at age 13, her parents cautioned that she was too young to make such a life-altering decision. When her parents refused to approve gender-transitioning procedures, the Montana CPS forcibly removed her from the family home (1).

Most Americans favor laws that protect adult transgender persons from discriminatory policies in jobs and housing (2). But driven by federal policy (3), transgender “horror-stories” such as the Montana case are serving to bolster public opposition to these practices.

A 2021 Gallup poll found that 62% of Americans believed that transgender athletes should be allowed to play only on teams that matched their birth sex. When the same poll was repeated in 2023, the percentage of Americans supporting such bans had increased to 69%. (4)

Five other national surveys conducted in 2023 reveal consistent opposition to transgender policies:

Deseret News/HarrisX (5): 55% of respondents support banning gender hormone therapy on minors, and 61% want to prohibit surgical interventions to change a child’s sex.

Summit Ministries (6): 77% of voters believe that allowing males who identify as female to compete against biological women in college female sports has been harmful to women’s sports.

CRC Research and Parents Defending Education (7): 74% of registered voters believe that schools should not be allowed to help students change their gender identity without parental consent.

Scripps News/You Gov (8):

54% of Americans support a federal ban on transgender females competing in school athletics.
44% say they want “laws that would restrict and, or ban transgender care for minors, even with parents’ consent,” while 34% oppose such measures.

KFF/Washington Post (9):

57% of American adults believe a person’s gender is based on their biological sex at birth.
67% do not think that biological males should be allowed to compete in women’s sports competitions at the high school level.
65% don’t believe that biological males should be allowed to compete in women’s athletics in college or professionally.
77% of American adults believe it is inappropriate for teachers to discuss their transgender identities with students in kindergarten to third grade.

Since 2022, 15 national polls have been conducted on a variety of transgender-related issues, revealing a national consensus against so-called “gender affirming” policies for children and youth (10). Lawmakers who support such policies are likely to face a negative response from voters during the upcoming November elections.

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