Majority of Americans do NOT support trans athletes competing against women: Nearly 70% say athletes should only be allowed to compete on sports teams that align with their birth gender, new survey shows
- The vast majority of Americans believe transgender athletes should not be allowed to play on the team of their assumed gender
- The issue has become a prominent political one in the last two years as male-born athletes have dominated a number of women’s competitions
- Support for transgender individuals in sports has slipped since the last time the survey was conducted in 2021
The vast majority of Americans do not support transgender athletes competing on the team of their choice, instead believing their team should correspond with their birth gender, according to a new Gallup survey.
Sixty-nine percent of Americans say transgender athletes should only be allowed to compete on sports teams that conform with their birth gender, a figure that has risen since 2021 – the last time the poll was conducted – when 62 percent of Americans felt that way.
Similarly, just 26 percent of Americans endorse the idea of transgender athletes playing on teams that match their current gender identity – down significantly from 34 percent two years ago.
US support for transgender athletes competing on the team of their assumed gender has slipped considerably since 2021
Student athlete Macy Petty speaks during an event celebrating the legislation passed by the House of Representatives that would protect women’s sports from competition from biological men
The issue has become increasingly political in the last years, especially in the cases of transgender women competing against biological women and often dominating the competition.
Governing bodies of various sports have come to no specific conclusion about how to handle the controversial question of allowing transgender athletes to compete.
In the political world, the issue has becoming a talking point, especially among conservative lawmakers, several of whom have orchestrated state bans on transgender women competing against female born athletes.
At least 20 states have now passed some such law, and the Republican-led House of Representatives recently passed a national ban. It is, however, extremely unlikely to became federal law given the Democrats’ control of the Senate, and President Joe Biden’s promise to veto it.
Greater public opposition to transgender athletes competing based on their assumed gender identity has occurred at the same time as more US adults say they know a transgender person.
Thirty-nine percent of Americans, up from 31 percent in 2021, say they personally know someone who is transgender.
Despite that statistic, the percentage of people who know a transgender person and and favor allowing athletes to play on teams that match their gender identity, has fallen 10 points in two years – from 40 percent to 30 percent.
People who know a transgender person continue to be generally more accepting of transgender policies, but that relationship has weakened in the last two years.
Among those who say they do not know a transgender person, support plummeted from 31 percent to 23 percent.
Transgender athlete Ricki Coughlan speaks during the launch of Australian national sporting organizations’ policies and guidelines on transgender and gender diverse inclusion
Rebekah Bruesehoff, a transgender student athlete, speaks at a press conference on LGBTQI+ rights, at the U.S. Capitol
Transgender swimmer Lia Thomas appears during an ESPN Women’s History month segment. Thomas became the first transgender athlete to win an NCAA championship
New Zealand’s Laurel Hubbard – the first transgender Olympian – at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics
In addition to athletics, the survey asked Americans about their more general views on being transgender.
A majority (55 percent) responded that ‘changing one’s gender’ is ‘morally wrong.’ Forty-three percent say it is ‘morally acceptable.’
Those results have shifted slightly from 2021, when 51 percent of Americans said being transgender is morally wrong, and 46 percent believed it to be morally acceptable.
Political liberals re the sole major subgroup that showed a majority support for allowing transgender people to compete on whatever team they want.
Ninety-three percent of Republicans remain opposed to giving transgender athletes a choice about their team.
