Every question, with its verbatim wording, its toplines, and a link to the pollster’s own release. Filters combine; the
address updates so any view can be shared.
Pew Research CenterContact & populationMay 16–22, 2022self-identification as transgender or nonbinary (population estimate)
Now just a couple of questions for demographic purposes...
What sex were you assigned at birth, on your original birth certificate? [Male / Female] ... Do you describe yourself as a man, a woman, nonbinary or in some other way? [A man / A woman / Nonbinary / In some other way]
Not transgender nor nonbinary
96.3%
Nonbinary
1%
Transgender man or transgender woman
0.6%
Another identity
0.5%
No answer to SEX or GENDERNEW, or answered 'no' to GENDERCONFIRM
1.6%
Transgender or nonbinary (NET) 1.6%
- Sample
- 10,188 adults · ±1.6 percentage points
- Method
- probability panel
- Where
- US national
- Source
- Pollster release↗(opens another site)
Full record
Base: Form 1 n=5,120; Form 2 n=5,068. Parents of children under 18 in household n=2,604; parents of elementary schoolers n=1,339; parents of middle/high schoolers n=1,351. Rep/Lean Rep n=4,841 (±2.2 points); Dem/Lean Dem n=5,092 (±2.2 points).
Wording notes: two-step sex-at-birth/gender-identity measure with a GENDERCONFIRM verification item for mismatches (n=75)decimals reported because of small shares
Response options as the pollster wrote them
- Transgender man or transgender woman
- Nonbinary
- Not transgender nor nonbinary
- Another identity
- No answer / not confirmed
Pew Research CenterYouth medical careMay 16–22, 2022 younger than 18; 'medical care for a gender transition' with no treatment named; BAN framing directed at health care professionals ('make it illegal'); FIVE-POINT scale with an explicit middle 'neither favor nor oppose'
Here are some current laws and policies that are either in place or being considered in the U.S. related to transgender issues.
Here are some current laws and policies that are either in place or being considered in the U.S. related to transgender issues. Would you favor or oppose laws or policies that do each of the following? Make it illegal for health care professionals to provide someone younger than 18 with medical care for a gender transition
Base: Form 1 n=5,120; Form 2 n=5,068. Parents of children under 18 in household n=2,604; parents of elementary schoolers n=1,339; parents of middle/high schoolers n=1,351. Rep/Lean Rep n=4,841 (±2.2 points); Dem/Lean Dem n=5,092 (±2.2 points).
Wording notes: BAN framing - 'make it illegal' is the strongest criminalization verb in the corpusexplicit under-18 thresholdno treatment namedregulated party is health care professionalsoffers an explicit neither-favor-nor-oppose midpoint, taken by 22%items randomized and response options rotated 1-5/5-1
Response options as the pollster wrote them
- Strongly favor
- Favor
- Neither favor nor oppose
- Oppose
- Strongly oppose
- No answer
Pew Research CenterIdentity beliefsJun 14–27, 2021 whether gender is determined by sex assigned at birth
Which statement comes closer to your views, even if neither is exactly right?
Whether someone is a man or a woman is determined by the sex they were assigned at birth
56%
Someone can be a man or a woman even if that is different from the sex they were assigned at birth
41%
No answer
3%
- Sample
- 10,606 adults · ±1.5 percentage points
- Method
- probability panel
- Where
- US national
- Source
- Pollster release↗(opens another site)
Full record · 5 subgroup figures
Wording notes: response options randomizedno middle option
Response options as the pollster wrote them
- Whether someone is a man or a woman is determined by the sex they were assigned at birth
- Someone can be a man or a woman even if that is different from the sex they were assigned at birth
- No answer
Pew Research CenterContact & populationJun 14–27, 2021 knows a transgender person
Next, we'd like to ask you about people who are transgender, that is, people who identify as a gender that is different from the sex they were assigned at birth, like a person born male who now identifies as a woman.
Thinking about the people you know, including yourself, do you personally know anyone who is transgender, or not?
Wording notes: definition of transgender supplied in preamble
Response options as the pollster wrote them
Pew Research CenterContact & populationJun 14–27, 2021 knows someone who uses gender-neutral pronouns
Some people who don't identify as either a man or a woman may prefer that others use gender-neutral pronouns such as "they" instead of "he" or "she" when referring to them.
Do you personally know anyone who prefers that others use gender-neutral pronouns such as "they" instead of "he" or "she" when referring to them?
Wording notes: in 2021 asked of all adults; in 2018 asked only of those who had heard about gender-neutral pronouns
Response options as the pollster wrote them
Pew Research CenterPronouns & languageJun 14–27, 2021 comfort using a gender-neutral pronoun on request
How comfortable, if at all, would you feel using a gender-neutral pronoun to refer to someone if they asked you to do so?
Wording notes: response option order reversed for a random halfno middle/neutral option
Response options as the pollster wrote them
- Very comfortable
- Somewhat comfortable
- Somewhat uncomfortable
- Very uncomfortable
- No answer
Pew Research CenterPronouns & languageSep 24, 2018 – Oct 7, 2018 awareness of gender-neutral pronouns
On another topic... Some people who don't identify as either a man or a woman may prefer that others use gender-neutral pronouns such as "they" instead of "he" or "she" when referring to them.
How much, if anything, have you heard about people preferring that others use gender-neutral pronouns such as "they" instead of "he" or "she" when referring to them?
Base: PRONKNOW asked only of the 6,942 respondents who had heard at least a little about gender-neutral pronouns.
Wording notes: definition supplied in preamble
Response options as the pollster wrote them
- A lot
- A little
- Nothing at all
- No answer
Pew Research CenterContact & populationSep 24, 2018 – Oct 7, 2018 knows someone who uses gender-neutral pronouns
Do you personally know anyone who prefers that others use gender-neutral pronouns such as "they" instead of "he" or "she" when referring to them?
Base: PRONKNOW asked only of the 6,942 respondents who had heard at least a little about gender-neutral pronouns.
Wording notes: asked only of those who had heard a lot/a little (n=6,942); the combo table rebases to total
Response options as the pollster wrote them
Pew Research CenterPronouns & languageSep 24, 2018 – Oct 7, 2018 comfort using a gender-neutral pronoun on request
How comfortable, if at all, would you feel using a gender-neutral pronoun to refer to someone if they asked you to do so?
Base: PRONKNOW asked only of the 6,942 respondents who had heard at least a little about gender-neutral pronouns.
Wording notes: response option order reversed for a random halfno middle/neutral option
Response options as the pollster wrote them
- Very comfortable
- Somewhat comfortable
- Somewhat uncomfortable
- Very uncomfortable
- No answer
Pew Research CenterIdentity beliefsdata flagSep 14–28, 2017 whether gender is determined by sex assigned at birth
Which statement comes closer to your views, even if neither is exactly right?
Base: N=4,573 is the set of panelists who responded to BOTH Wave 28 (Aug. 8-21, 2017) and Wave 29 (Sept. 14-28, 2017). The transgender items (TRANSGEND1, TRANSGEND2, TRANSGEND2a, TRANSGEND3) were all asked in Wave 29.
Wording notes: response options randomized'even if neither is exactly right' softenerno middle option
Response options as the pollster wrote them
- Whether someone is a man or a woman is determined by the sex they were assigned at birth
- Someone can be a man or a woman even if that is different from the sex they were assigned at birth
- No answer
Pew Research CenterContact & populationdata flagSep 14–28, 2017 knows a transgender person
Next, we'd like to ask you about people who are transgender, that is, people who identify as a gender that is different from the sex they were assigned at birth, like a person born male who now identifies as a woman.
Thinking about the people you know, including yourself, do you personally know anyone who is transgender, or not?
Base: N=4,573 is the set of panelists who responded to BOTH Wave 28 (Aug. 8-21, 2017) and Wave 29 (Sept. 14-28, 2017). The transgender items (TRANSGEND1, TRANSGEND2, TRANSGEND2a, TRANSGEND3) were all asked in Wave 29.
Wording notes: 'including yourself' clausedefinition of transgender supplied in preamble
Response options as the pollster wrote them
Pew Research CenterContact & populationdata flagSep 14–28, 2017 relationship to the transgender people respondent knows
Thinking about the person or people you know who are transgender, are they... [Check all that apply]
Base: N=4,573 is the set of panelists who responded to BOTH Wave 28 (Aug. 8-21, 2017) and Wave 29 (Sept. 14-28, 2017). The transgender items (TRANSGEND1, TRANSGEND2, TRANSGEND2a, TRANSGEND3) were all asked in Wave 29.
Wording notes: multiple response; percentages based on total N=4,573, not on those who know a trans person
Response options as the pollster wrote them
- An acquaintance
- A close friend
- A coworker
- A family member
- Someone else [TEXT BOX]
- Yourself
Pew Research CenterGeneral acceptancedata flagSep 14–28, 2017 whether society has gone too far in accepting transgender people
Which of the following statements comes closer to your feelings?
Our society has NOT GONE FAR ENOUGH in accepting people who are transgender
39%
Our society has GONE TOO FAR in accepting people who are transgender
32%
Our society has been ABOUT RIGHT when it comes to accepting people who are transgender
27%
No answer
2%
- Sample
- 4,573 adults
- Method
- probability panel
- Where
- US national
- Source
- Pollster release↗(opens another site)
Full record · 2 subgroup figures
Base: N=4,573 is the set of panelists who responded to BOTH Wave 28 (Aug. 8-21, 2017) and Wave 29 (Sept. 14-28, 2017). The transgender items (TRANSGEND1, TRANSGEND2, TRANSGEND2a, TRANSGEND3) were all asked in Wave 29.
Wording notes: 'gone too far' / 'not gone far enough' framingoptions 1 and 2 randomized with 'about right' always last
Response options as the pollster wrote them
- Our society has GONE TOO FAR in accepting people who are transgender
- Our society has NOT GONE FAR ENOUGH in accepting people who are transgender
- Our society has been ABOUT RIGHT when it comes to accepting people who are transgender
- No answer
Pew Research CenterBathrooms & facilitiesAug 16, 2016 – Sep 12, 2016 sympathy with allowing restroom use matching gender identity
Next, we'd like to get your opinions about some stories that have been in the news in recent years. As you may know, recent stories in the news have highlighted a debate over the use of public restrooms by transgender individuals - such as people who now identify and live as females but were born male [VIGNETTE 3B: males but were born female]. Some argue that transgender people should be [RANDOMIZE STATEMENTS; STATEMENT 1: allowed to use the public restrooms of the gender with which they currently identify / STATEMENT 2: required to use the public restrooms of the gender they were born into]. Others argue that transgender people should be [OPPOSITE STATEMENT]. We're interested in your views about this situation.
How much, if at all, do you sympathize with those who say transgender people should be allowed to use the public restrooms of the gender with which they currently identify?
Base: 4,195 web respondents and 343 mail respondents. Restroom vignette 3A (male-to-female example) shown to a random half, vignette 3B (female-to-male example) to the other half; Pew combined responses after finding no significant wording differences on TRANSREST1-3.
Wording notes: vignette/debate framing presents both sidesuses 'the gender they were born into'randomized statement ordersplit-sample male-to-female vs female-to-male example
Response options as the pollster wrote them
- A lot
- Some
- Not much
- Not at all
- No answer
Pew Research CenterBathrooms & facilitiesAug 16, 2016 – Sep 12, 2016 sympathy with requiring restroom use matching birth sex
See TRANSREST1 preamble (same vignette).
How much, if at all, do you sympathize with those who say transgender people should be required to use the public restrooms of the gender they were born into?
Base: 4,195 web respondents and 343 mail respondents. Restroom vignette 3A (male-to-female example) shown to a random half, vignette 3B (female-to-male example) to the other half; Pew combined responses after finding no significant wording differences on TRANSREST1-3.
Wording notes: uses 'the gender they were born into'randomized order relative to TRANSREST1
Response options as the pollster wrote them
- A lot
- Some
- Not much
- Not at all
- No answer
Pew Research CenterBathrooms & facilitiesAug 16, 2016 – Sep 12, 2016 forced choice on transgender restroom use
See TRANSREST1 preamble (same vignette).
And if you had to choose, which comes closest to your view? Transgender people should be...
Base: 4,195 web respondents and 343 mail respondents. Restroom vignette 3A (male-to-female example) shown to a random half, vignette 3B (female-to-male example) to the other half; Pew combined responses after finding no significant wording differences on TRANSREST1-3.
Wording notes: 'if you had to choose' forces a binaryno middle optionresponse option order matched to the randomized vignette order
Response options as the pollster wrote them
- Allowed to use the public restrooms of the gender with which they currently identify
- Required to use the public restrooms of the gender they were born into
- No answer
Pew Research CenterContact & populationAug 16, 2016 – Sep 12, 2016 knows a transgender person
Do you personally know anyone who is transgender, or not?
Base: 4,195 web respondents and 343 mail respondents. Restroom vignette 3A (male-to-female example) shown to a random half, vignette 3B (female-to-male example) to the other half; Pew combined responses after finding no significant wording differences on TRANSREST1-3.
Wording notes: 'transgender' defined earlier in the vignette as 'people who now identify and live as females but were born male' / 'males but were born female'
Response options as the pollster wrote them
- Yes, I know someone who is transgender
- No, I do not
- No answer