The majority of Americans oppose anti-trans laws targeting trans youth

A new poll shows that while most Americans oppose anti-trans laws, support for these repressive laws is growing.

The NPR and PBS poll found that 54 percent of American adults oppose anti-trans laws that criminalize the provision of gender-affirming health care to trans youth.

Respondents who identify as Democrats and Independents had the highest percentages opposed — 68 percent and 56 percent, respectively.

But now 43 percent of Americans support legislation that criminalizes gender-affirming childcare for young people — a 15 percent increase since April 2021, when the figure was 28 percent.

The research showed that white evangelical Christians, Republicans and parents of children under 18 were the most likely to support repressive legislation targeting the trans community.

Jonah DeChants, senior research scientist at The Trevor Project, made a statement to PBS NewsHour that doctors and parents should decide “what prescribed medications their young trans people need,” not politicians.

He continued, “It’s encouraging to see a majority of Americans oppose these dangerous, misguided bills targeting the LGBTQ+ community, particularly young transgender people, at a time when we have non-stop anti-trans political Attacks and irresponsible reporting both in the mainstream and in the media are experienced by right-wing media.”

The surge in the number of those who support the criminalization of gender-affirming healthcare follows a spate of vicious anti-trans laws sweeping across the United States.

To date, at least 10 US states, including Kentucky, Arkansas, Utah, Florida, Alabama, Georgia and South Dakota, have enacted bans targeting health care for trans youth.

Despite the results of numerous studies showing that gender reassignment care can save lives and the treatment is endorsed by major medical associations as safe and effective, the Republican legislature has repeatedly pushed these bills forward.

In 2023 alone, a record-breaking number of anti-LGBTQ+ laws were passed in the US, from bathroom bills affecting transgender, non-binary and gender-nonconforming people to sports bans and drag bans.

Florida on Friday (March 31) voted to expand the state’s repressive Don’t Say Gay law, tightening restrictions on how schools deal with LGBTQ+ issues.

As of this writing, only six states have not passed anti-LGBTQ+ legislation this term.