Americans want politicians to protect trans people & stop taking away their rights

Most Americans don’t trust politicians regarding gender-affirming care for transgender people.

They’d rather that Republicans stop passing legislation to control it and, instead, pass laws that protect trans people’s civil rights.

Related:

Anti-trans attacks aren’t the winning election issue the right thinks it is

The right keeps losing elections and irritating voters with its anti-trans attacks, but it still won’t stop them.

While only 17 percent agreed that politicians should restrict access to gender-affirming health care, a third said they would rather politicians protect transgender people, according to a new poll from The 19th and SurveyMonkey. Even among the GOP base, only 29 percent of Republicans agreed with the nonstop attacks on trans people.

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Most Americans also don’t trust politicians to make decisions about gender-affirming care or abortion. They don’t think the legislators are educated enough on the issue to do so properly. Seven out of 10 respondents think the politicians aren’t informed enough.

Regardless of political affiliation, most Americans support gender-affirming care, although the number dips when comparing care of adults care for minors. Even among LGBTQ+ people, while 84 percent support gender-affirming care for adults, the number drops to 70 percent for minors.

“Republicans at all levels of government are pushing to restrict access to abortion and gender-affirming care, and the polling indicates that these efforts likely appeal only to the party’s most fervent base voters,” a 19th News report based on the polling concluded. The outlet worked with Survey Monkey to field the poll.

“GOP White House contenders are already talking abortion and gender identity as they tussle over the nomination, and as the battles to control Congress, statehouses and governors’ mansions take shape, Republican candidates’ early rhetoric about restricting access to abortion and gender-affirming care could become a liability in the general elections,” the report continued.

“Democratic candidates, meanwhile, are increasingly tying the fights to protect abortion access and gender-affirming care — both in rhetoric about bodily autonomy and policies like the ‘shield laws’ for medical providers who offer this care.”

The poll surveyed 20,191 adults. It has a margin of error of 1 percent.

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