3 days ago
Two-thirds support policies prioritizing birth sex over gender identity: Gallup
Roughly two-thirds of Americans support policies preventing transgender people from participating on sports teams that match their gender identity or changing their sex designation on government documents such as passports and driver's licenses, according to a poll released Tuesday by Gallup.
Support for each such prevention policy varied by political affiliation but was led overwhelmingly by Republicans, according to the poll, based on responses to Gallup's May 1-18 Values and Beliefs survey. It was the third year respondents were asked about transgender people in sports and the first year they were asked about identity documents.
Forty-one percent of Democrats and 72 percent of independents said they believe trans athletes should only be permitted to play sports consistent with their sex at birth, according to the poll, and 38 percent of Democrats and 66 percent of independents said transgender people shouldn't be allowed to change their sex on official documents.
Fourteen percent of Democrats said they were unsure where they stood on either issue. Roughly 90 percent of Republicans surveyed said they support both policies.
The survey, released during Pride Month, reflects shifting public opinion on two of President Trump's policy priorities relating to transgender Americans. On his first day back in office, Trump signed an executive order declaring that the federal government recognizes only two sexes, male and female, and that those sexes 'are not changeable and are grounded in fundamental and incontrovertible reality.'
The order directs the departments of State and Homeland Security and the Office of Personnel Management to require government-issued identification documents, including passports, visas and Global Entry cards, to reflect an individual's sex over their gender identity. The State Department previously allowed U.S. passport holders to self-select sex designations, including an 'unspecified' gender marker denoted by the letter X.
In April, a federal judge blocked the administration from enforcing the new policy against six trans and nonbinary Americans while they challenged it in court.
In another executive order signed in February, Trump proclaimed the U.S. opposes 'male competitive participation in women's sports' as a matter 'of safety, fairness, dignity, and truth.' The order, titled 'Keeping Men Out of Women's Sports,' states that it is government policy to rescind federal funds from schools 'that deprive women and girls of fair athletic opportunities.'
The administration has aggressively pursued the issue, which is one of Trump's top campaign promises. The Education Department since January has opened more than two dozen investigations into states, school districts and athletic associations that it says are violating federal sex discrimination laws by allowing trans athletes to participate in girls' and women's athletic events.
The Department of Justice announced a civil lawsuit against Maine's Department of Education in April after the state repeatedly defied the Trump administration's orders to bar transgender student-athletes from girls' sports. On Monday, California officials sued the Trump administration 'in anticipation of imminent legal retaliation' against the state's school systems after a transgender 16-year-old was allowed to compete in California's girls' high school track-and-field finals against Trump's demands.
Support for transgender athletes has fallen in recent years. When Gallup first asked participants whether trans people should be allowed to compete in line with their gender identity for the first time in 2021, support was 10 percentage points higher than it was in Tuesday's survey.
Much of that change has been driven by Democrats and independents, according to Gallup. Support among Democrats sank from 55 percent in 2021 to 45 percent in 2025 and from 33 percent to 23 percent among independents.
Americans' views on whether it is 'morally acceptable' for a person to change their gender has also declined since 2021, when Gallup first posed the question, slipping 6 percentage points to 40 percent, according to Tuesday's survey. Split by political affiliation, Republicans' opinion on the topic has changed the most, falling 13 points over four years to 9 percent.
At 64 percent, Americans are more likely to view 'gay or lesbian relations' as morally acceptable, according to Gallup. In a May 29 survey released by the group, support for same-sex marriage among Republicans fell to a near-30-year low.
Participants in Tuesday's survey were asked for the first time about the causes of being transgender. Gallup has asked about the causes of being gay or lesbian since 1977.
Roughly 50 percent of Americans said external factors like environment and upbringing had a greater influence on gender identity than biological factors, which 30 percent said were behind a person's being transgender. Seven percent said both could be plausible factors, 4 percent said neither had a significant influence, and 9 percent had no opinion.
Forty-five percent of respondents said gay or lesbian people are born, and 38 percent said external influences determine sexual orientation.
Most Democrats, at 57 percent, think a person is born transgender, while 76 percent of Republicans think being transgender is the result of a person's upbringing or environment. Seventy-four percent of Democrats said they believe people are also born gay or lesbian, while 62 percent of Republicans said external factors are more likely to influence a person's sexual orientation.
