Transgender Polling Archive

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10 questions from 5 polls

ANESMilitary serviceNov 7, 2024 – Feb 17, 2025
ANES variable V242362 (TRANSMIL_ALLOWMIL) - allowing transgender people to serve in the armed forces

Do you favor, oppose, or neither favor nor oppose allowing transgender people to serve in the United States Armed Forces?

Favor 35%25% Oppose
Sample
4,964 adult citizens
Method
mixed-mode probability
Where
US national
Source
Pollster release(opens another site)
Full record

Base: Post-election re-interviews; overall re-interview rate 89.9% of the 5,521 pre-election respondents (n derived from that rate, not printed as a count in the user guide). Item bases in the frequency tables run about 4,700.

Wording notes: explicit 'neither favor nor oppose' middle category absorbs about 40% of responses
Response options as the pollster wrote them
  • Favor
  • Oppose
  • Neither favor nor oppose
ANESMilitary serviceNov 7, 2024 – Feb 17, 2025
ANES summary variable V242364x - military item folded with strength (7-point)

IF R FAVORS ALLOWING TRANSGENDER PPL IN MILITARY / IF R OPPOSES ALLOWING TRANSGENDER PPL IN MILITARY:

Do you favor that [a great deal, a moderate amount, or a little / a little, a moderate amount, or a great deal]? / Do you oppose that [a great deal, a moderate amount, or a little / a little, a moderate amount, or a great deal]?

Favor 35%25% Oppose
Sample
4,964 adult citizens
Method
mixed-mode probability
Where
US national
Source
Pollster release(opens another site)
Full record

Base: Post-election re-interviews; overall re-interview rate 89.9% of the 5,521 pre-election respondents (n derived from that rate, not printed as a count in the user guide). Item bases in the frequency tables run about 4,700.

Wording notes: 7-point folded scale with a true midpoint
Response options as the pollster wrote them
  • A great deal
  • A moderate amount
  • A little
ANESBathrooms & facilitiesAug 3, 2024 – Nov 5, 2024
ANES variable V241370 (TRANSPOLICY_RESTRM) - allowing transgender people to use public bathrooms matching gender identity

Do you favor, oppose, or neither favor nor oppose allowing transgender people to use public bathrooms that match the gender they identify with?

Favor 26%49% Oppose
Sample
5,521 adult citizens
Method
mixed-mode probability
Where
US national
Source
Pollster release(opens another site)
Full record

Base: 5,521 pre-election interviews: 1,042 fresh in-person sample, 2,308 fresh web sample, 2,171 panel respondents carried forward from the 2016 and 2020 ANES studies

Wording notes: FORMAT BREAK: replaces the 2016/2020 two-option forced choice with favor/oppose/neither, so the 2024 numbers are not a continuation of the earlier trendexplicit middle category absorbs a quarter of responsesno longer defines 'transgender people' in the stem
Response options as the pollster wrote them
  • Favor
  • Oppose
  • Neither favor nor oppose
ANESBathrooms & facilitiesAug 3, 2024 – Nov 5, 2024
ANES summary variable V241372x - bathroom item folded with strength (7-point)

IF R FAVORS ALLOWING TRANSGENDER PEOPLE TO USE BATHROOM THAT MATCHES THE GENDER THEY IDENTIFY WITH / IF R OPPOSES ALLOWING TRANSGENDER PEOPLE TO USE BATHROOM THAT MATCHES THE GENDER THEY IDENTIFY WITH:

Do you [favor / oppose] that [a great deal, a moderate amount, or a little / a little, a moderate amount, or a great deal]?

Favor 26%49% Oppose
Sample
5,521 adult citizens
Method
mixed-mode probability
Where
US national
Source
Pollster release(opens another site)
Full record

Base: 5,521 pre-election interviews: 1,042 fresh in-person sample, 2,308 fresh web sample, 2,171 panel respondents carried forward from the 2016 and 2020 ANES studies

Wording notes: 7-point folded scale with a true midpoint
Response options as the pollster wrote them
  • A great deal
  • A moderate amount
  • A little
ANESSportsAug 3, 2024 – Nov 5, 2024
ANES variable V241373 (TRANSPOLICY_TRANSPRT) - banning transgender girls from K-12 girls' sports

Several states have considered laws that would ban transgender girls from participating in K-12 girls' sports. Do you favor, oppose, or neither favor nor oppose such a law?

Favor 51%23% Oppose
Sample
5,521 adult citizens
Method
mixed-mode probability
Where
US national
Source
Pollster release(opens another site)
Full record

Base: 5,521 pre-election interviews: 1,042 fresh in-person sample, 2,308 fresh web sample, 2,171 panel respondents carried forward from the 2016 and 2020 ANES studies

Wording notes: the restrictive policy is the object of favor/oppose, so 'favor' = restrictivelegislative-salience preamble ('Several states have considered laws') establishes the policy as already under serious considerationexplicit middle category offered
Response options as the pollster wrote them
  • Favor
  • Oppose
  • Neither favor nor oppose
ANESMilitary serviceNov 8, 2020 – Jan 4, 2021
ANES variable V202388 (TRANSMIL_ALLOWMIL) - allowing transgender people to serve in the armed forces

Do you favor, oppose, or neither favor nor oppose allowing transgender people to serve in the United States Armed Forces?

Favor 45%17% Oppose
Sample
7,453 adult citizens
Method
mixed-mode probability
Where
US national
Source
Pollster release(opens another site)
Full record

Base: 7,453 post-election re-interviews of pre-election respondents, plus 1,164 post-election-only interviews with 2020 GSS participants

Wording notes: explicit 'neither favor nor oppose' middle category offered on the face of the question, which absorbs a large share of responses
Response options as the pollster wrote them
  • Favor
  • Oppose
  • Neither favor nor oppose
ANESBathrooms & facilitiesAug 18, 2020 – Nov 2, 2020
ANES variable V201409 (TRANSPOLICY_RESTRM) - transgender bathroom policy, forced choice

Should transgender people -- that is, people who identify themselves as the sex or gender different from the one they were born as -- have to use the bathrooms of the gender they were born as, or should they be allowed to use the bathrooms of their identified gender?

Be allowed to use the bathrooms of their identified gender
53.2%
Have to use the bathrooms of the gender they were born as
46.8%
Sample
8,280 adult citizens
Method
mixed-mode probability
Where
US national
Source
Pollster release(opens another site)
Full record

Base: 8,280 pre-election interviews across five sample groups (fresh ABS web, fresh ABS web/phone, fresh ABS video/web/phone, 2016 ANES panel, and 2020 GSS re-interviews)

Wording notes: defines 'transgender people' inside the question stemno explicit middle/no-opinion option offered
Response options as the pollster wrote them
  • Have to use the bathrooms of the gender they were born as
  • Be allowed to use the bathrooms of their identified gender
ANESBathrooms & facilitiesAug 18, 2020 – Nov 2, 2020
ANES summary variable V201411x - transgender bathroom policy folded with strength (6-point)

IF R OPINION ON TRANSGENDER USE OF RESTROOMS OF IDENTIFIED GENDER IS NOT DK/RF:

How strongly do you feel that way? [Very strongly, moderately, or a little / A little, moderately, or very strongly]?

Feels very strongly transgender people should use bathroom of birth gender
30.1%
Feels very strongly transgender people be allowed to use bathroom of identified gender
22.3%
Feels moderately strongly transgender people be allowed to use bathroom of identified gender
20.5%
Feels moderately strongly transgender people should use bathroom of birth gender
11.3%
Feels a little strongly transgender people be allowed to use bathroom of identified gender
10.4%
Feels a little strongly transgender people should use bathroom of birth gender
5.4%
Sample
8,280 adult citizens
Method
mixed-mode probability
Where
US national
Source
Pollster release(opens another site)
Full record

Base: 8,280 pre-election interviews across five sample groups (fresh ABS web, fresh ABS web/phone, fresh ABS video/web/phone, 2016 ANES panel, and 2020 GSS re-interviews)

Wording notes: branching strength follow-up folded into a 6-point scale with no midpoint
Response options as the pollster wrote them
  • Very strongly
  • Moderately
  • A little
ANESBathrooms & facilitiesSep 7, 2016 – Nov 7, 2016
ANES variable V161228 (TRANSPOLICY_RESTRM) - transgender bathroom policy, forced choice

Should transgender people -- that is, people who identify themselves as the sex or gender different from the one they were born as -- have to use the bathrooms of the gender they were born as, or should they be allowed to use the bathrooms of their identified gender?

Have to use the bathrooms of the gender they were born with
51.5%
Be allowed to use the bathrooms of their identified gender
48.5%
Sample
4,271 adult citizens
Method
mixed-mode probability
Where
US national
Source
Pollster release(opens another site)
Full record

Base: 4,271 pre-election interviews: 1,181 face-to-face and 3,090 online

Wording notes: defines 'transgender people' inside the question stemno explicit middle/no-opinion option offeredresponse option order randomized forward/reverse
Response options as the pollster wrote them
  • Have to use the bathrooms of the gender they were born with
  • Be allowed to use the bathrooms of their identified gender
ANESBathrooms & facilitiesSep 7, 2016 – Nov 7, 2016
ANES summary variable V161228x - transgender bathroom policy combined with strength of opinion (6-point)

IF R OPINION ON TRANSGENDER USE OF RESTROOMS OF IDENTIFIED GENDER IS NOT DK/RF:

How strongly do you feel about that? [Very strongly, moderately strongly, or slightly strongly / Slightly strongly, moderately strongly or very strongly]?

Feel very strongly - bathroom of the gender born with
36%
Feel very strongly - bathroom of identified gender
20.7%
Feel moderately strongly - bathroom of identified gender
19.7%
Feel moderately strongly - bathroom of the gender born with
11.6%
Feel a little strongly - bathroom of identified gender
8%
Feel a little strongly - bathroom of the gender born with
3.9%
Sample
4,271 adult citizens
Method
mixed-mode probability
Where
US national
Source
Pollster release(opens another site)
Full record

Base: 4,271 pre-election interviews: 1,181 face-to-face and 3,090 online

Wording notes: branching strength follow-up, folded into a 6-point summary scale with no midpoint
Response options as the pollster wrote them
  • Very strongly
  • Moderately
  • Slightly

Figures transcribed from public sources; each links to the original release. How to read this data →