Poll: Parents Back Republican Curbs on Transgenderism for Children

Parents and son (3-5) sitting on couch, in living room
Noel Hendrickson/ Getty Images

Republicans and Democrats are very divided when it comes to whether or not they believe transgender-related medical procedures should be conducted for minors, but parents of young children back the Republicans’ expanding campaign to shield children from transgender advocacy and medical procedures, a recent Marist Poll in partnership with NPR and PBS NewsHour found.

One poll question asked, “Do you support or oppose a bill that criminalizes providing gender transition-related medical care for minors?”

In response to this question, 63 percent of registered Republicans said they would support such legislation, with only 30 percent of registered Democrats saying they support it.

The wide partisan gap was mirrored by all parents with children under the age of 18. Fifty-nine percent said they supported legislation criminalizing transgender-related procedures for minors, and 40 percent said they were opposed to it.

The 19-point gap suggests GOP candidates will gain votes from swing-voting parents by effectively defending kids from transgenderism.

Another poll question asked respondents whether they “support or oppose laws that would restrict drag shows or performances in your state?”

In response to this question, 61 percent of Republicans said they would support such laws, with only 23 percent of Democrats saying they would be in support. Meanwhile, 50 percent of parents with children under the age of 18 support such laws, with 49 percent of them saying they were opposed.

While the poll framed the question about drag shows to suggest that the hypothetical law would only be restricting adults, many Americans have come to correlate drag performances with minors in recent years, as radical transgender activists have been targeting children via drag shows and “story hours.”

In some cases, the children themselves are the ones dressing in drag for adults. In one example from 2018, an 11-year-old boy known as “Desmond Is Amazing” was seen dancing on stage at a New York gay bar while grown men tossed dollar bills at him.

The poll surveyed 1,327 U.S. adults and was conducted between March 20 and March 23.

Another recent transgender-related poll, conducted by Wall Street Journal-NORC, found that a growing number of Americans say acceptance of transgenderism has gone “too far,” and a majority reject using the “gender-neutral” pronouns “they/them.”

Recently, the Washington Post published misleading poll results indicating that adults who attempt to transition experience greater life satisfaction.

You can follow Alana Mastrangelo on Facebook and Twitter at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram.

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