NNNBC News/Wall Street Journal

Now, North Carolina recently passed a law that PREVENTS transgender people from using public restrooms that match the gender with which they identify and instead requires them to use public restrooms based upon their gender at birth.

Now, North Carolina recently passed a law that PREVENTS transgender people from using public restrooms that match the gender with which they identify and instead requires them to use public restrooms based upon their gender at birth. Do you believe transgender people should be allowed to use the public restroom of the gender with which they identify, or should they be legally prevented from doing so, or do you not have an opinion one way or the other?

Wording notes: long factual preamble anchoring on the North Carolina law (HB2) | explicit no-opinion escape offered in the stem, which inflates the don't-know share | 'gender at birth' vs 'gender with which they identify' contrast pair

neutral — the preamble describes the law's effect in both directions and both policy poles are stated; the volunteered-opinion escape is offered symmetrically

The U.S. Department of Justice has notified North Carolina this law violates the federal civil rights law. If North Carolina or any other state enforces a law like this, the Justice Department could file a lawsuit to block the law and that state's public schools could lose millions of dollars in federal funds.

The U.S. Department of Justice has notified North Carolina this law violates the federal civil rights law. If North Carolina or any other state enforces a law like this, the Justice Department could file a lawsuit to block the law and that state's public schools could lose millions of dollars in federal funds. Would you support or oppose the Justice Department taking these actions or do you not have an opinion one way or the other?

Wording notes: preamble states only the costs of enforcement (lawsuits, loss of school funding) and none of the benefits | no countervailing consequence offered for non-enforcement

tilts_restrictive — the stem attaches concrete, sympathetic losses to the pro-enforcement side (schools losing millions) while the civil-rights rationale is stated only in the abstract, loading the item against DOJ action

Do you PERSONALLY know or work with someone who is transgender, that is, someone who does not identify with their birth gender?

Wording notes: defines 'transgender' in-stem via 'does not identify with their birth gender' | combines knowing and working with into a single measure

neutral — factual contact item

Which of the following statements comes closer to your feelings about the way our society deals with people who are transgender, that is, someone who does not identify with their birth gender, like a person born as a man who now identifies and is living as a woman. (ROTATE STATEMENT A AND B)--A) we have gone too far in accepting transgender people, B) we have not gone far enough in ending discrimination against transgender people, or C) we have reached a reasonable balance when it comes to this issue?

Wording notes: three-way choice with an explicit middle option | statements A and B rotated | adds an illustrative example ('a person born as a man who now identifies and is living as a woman') absent from the 2015 version

neutral — Both directional statements are read and rotated and a middle option is offered; the illustrative example is one-directional (trans woman only) but descriptive.

Now, not thinking about people you may have seen, read, or heard about, but only whom you know, do you PERSONALLY know or work with someone who is transgender, that is, someone who does not identify with their birth gender like a person born as a man who now identifies and is living as a woman or a person born as a woman who now identifies and is living as a man?

Wording notes: capitalises PERSONALLY | includes a two-direction definitional gloss of 'transgender'

neutral — Factual contact item; the explicit screen against media familiarity tightens rather than skews the measure.