Trans issues not a priority for US voters, new survey finds
Robyn Casias is seeking at least $3 million in compensation for three civil claims for gender discrimination, retaliation and punitive damages along with legal costs. (Getty)
Trans issues are not a priority for US voters, with most people saying lawmakers shouldn’t focus on them at all, a survey has found.
Data published by SurveyMonkey and The 19th News on Monday (18 September), sheds light on issues relating to democracy, abortion, gender-affirming care and gun controls.
The poll, which was conducted between 24 and 31 August, with more than 20,000 adults responding, found that the majority of people would rather politicians either protect trans people or not focus on transgender issues at all.
The research showed that just 17 per cent of respondents wanted politicians to focus on restricting gender-affirming care, while 44 per cent said they shouldn’t focus on any trans issues. Thirty-three per cent believed lawmakers should focus on protecting trans people.
Republicans in particular – 58 per cent – said they didn’t want their politicians focusing on trans issues, compared with 49 per cent of independents and 32 per cent of Democrats.
Democratic California representative Robert Garcia – the first openly gay immigrant in Congress – has previously branded Republicans a “bunch of bullies [for attacking] folks who are the most marginalised”.
In an interview with The Advocate, he said: “They view the trans community and trans families as an opportunity to reignite and continue their cultural wars.”
‘Attacks on women’s health and abortion have backfired’
The new research showed that 57 per cent of people favour trans adults being allowed to access gender-affirming care, with 39 per cent supporting the same for minors. Almost three-quarters of those surveyed said they didn’t think politicians have enough information about gender-affirming care for minors to create fair policies.
A similar number, 70 per cent, said the same about politicians and abortion. Sixty-three per cent of people said it should be legal.
Garcia added: “Now that they’ve realised all their attacks on women’s health and abortion have backfired on them, they’re turning to the trans, and the broader LGBTQ+, community because it’s their favourite kind of bullying tactic, and it’s shameful.”
On gun control, it was mostly women and people of colour were found to be worried about violence in their communities, and, regardless of which political party they vote for, people voiced support for laws to prevent those convicted of serious crimes from being able to buy weapons.
SurveyMonkey and The 19th News’ second annual poll comes ahead of the 2024 presidential election with Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis, both who have anti-LGBTQ+ ideologies, being the frontrunners in the Republican primaries, and the results follow right-wing legislators across the US moving to restrict access to gender-affirming care and any discussion of trans and LGBTQ+ issues in schools.
In March, a US national bill targeting trans youth – dubbed the Parental Bill of Rights – passed through the House of Representatives and on to the Senate, and it is estimated that almost 400 anti-LGBTQ+ bills have been proposed across US states the since January.
