Voters in all parties are concerned about the GOP’s anti-LGBTQ+ school policies

Even though Republicans have successfully used “parents’ rights” to push anti-LGBTQ+ policies in public schools, a new poll shows that most voters feel extremely concerned about these policies and consider other educational issues far more important to focus on.

A survey of 1,000 registered voters across the nation conducted by the progressive U.S. polling firm Navigator Research found that majorities of parents and voters across the political spectrum have concerns over Republican policies like banning books, restricting classroom instruction on LGBTQ+ issues, and inspecting children’s genitals before allowing them to play on sports teams.

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Approximately 66% of all surveyed voters expressed concern about “prohibiting teachers from teaching age-appropriate lessons about sexual orientation or gender identity in schools, including history involving LGBTQ+ figures.” While only 46% of Republican voters expressed concern over this issue, the majority of Republican voters expressed concern over every other Republican educational policy asked about in the survey.

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Approximately 71% of all surveyed voters expressed concern about “suing or suspending teachers if they show support for LGBTQ+ students.” This included 53% of Republican voters.

Eleven states have laws restricting the discussion of LGBTQ+ issues in schools, according to the Movement Advancement Project. Two of the states and three others require parental notification before such discussions occur. In some of the states, parents can sue school districts that violate the law and educators can lose their teaching licenses for violating it as well.

Nearly 80% of all surveyed voters expressed concern about “banning books that partisan politicians decide they don’t like or agree with.” This included 74% of Republican voters. Overall, 92% of all respondents felt concerned about “banning books — including books about Anne Frank and [Martin Luther King], To Kill a Mockingbird, and 1984 — from public schools,” including 87% of Republican respondents.

School bans on allegedly “inappropriate” and “pornographic” books are “escalating dramatically,” according to the free-speech organization PEN America. About one-third of the 1,586 books banned from schools nationwide have LGBTQ+ themes and characters. In 98% of cases, school districts haven’t followed their own First Amendment protections to ensure that government officials don’t ban or punish free speech.

Also, 84% of respondents said they felt concerned about “inspecting the genitals of kids before they’re allowed to play on sports teams” and about “defunding public education and moving the money to private schools instead.” The latter is a goal of the anti-LGBTQ+ homeschooling and “school choice” movement, largely pushed by Christian conservatives.

At least 23 states have passed laws restricting trans female athletes from playing on school sports teams matching their gender identities, according to ESPN. Some states, like Virginia and Nebraska, require trans student-athletes to get verification of their gender identity from a healthcare professional, something which may not require genital inspection.

The survey found that the majority of respondents felt that the most important education priorities were keeping children safe from shootings, making sure they learn things they need to be successful, and protecting their mental health.

Majorities of respondents also said they view teachers unions positively and trust Democrats and President Joe Biden to ensure that schools have the funding to pay for books, teacher salaries, student mental health services, and building repairs so that educational environments best serve learners’ needs.

Republicans have successfully riled their base, won elections, and disrupted public schools with their anti-LGBTQ+ platform of erasing LGBTQ+ identities from classrooms. This recent poll suggests that that strategy may well turn off voters and even backfire if Republicans try to promote those policies in the upcoming 2024 national elections.