NORC (AmeriSpeak)

Do you have any friends, or relatives, or co-workers who have told you, personally, that they identify as any of the following? Transgender or nonbinary

Wording notes: asked as a grid alongside 'gay or lesbian' and 'bisexual' | requires that the person told the respondent personally, a stricter test than generic 'do you know'

neutral — plain contact measure; the disclosure requirement is stated explicitly rather than implied

Do you favor or oppose laws to protect each of the following against job discrimination? Transgender or nonbinary people

Wording notes: grid asked with parallel items for gay or lesbian people and bisexual people, allowing a within-battery gap measure | no middle option

neutral — symmetric favor/oppose on a plainly described statutory protection

If your party nominated a well-qualified person for Congress, and you heard that they were any of the following, would that make you more likely to vote for that candidate, or less likely, or wouldn't it make any difference one way or the other? Transgender or nonbinary

Wording notes: classic Gallup-style 'well-qualified nominee of your own party' construction | parallel items for gay or lesbian and bisexual candidates in the same grid

neutral — the 'well-qualified' and 'your party' stipulations are the standard design for isolating identity-based penalty; both directions are offered

Do you think the government is paying too much attention, is paying about the right amount, or isn't paying enough attention to each of the following? Transgender or nonbinary people

Wording notes: parallel items for gay or lesbian people and bisexual people

neutral — three-way construction with a stated midpoint and both directions available

In your opinion, why do some people feel their gender does not match the sex they're assigned at birth?

Wording notes: only three explanations offered, with no 'some combination' or 'other' option | directly parallel to Q12A about same-sex attraction, which allows comparison

unclear — the three options are not exhaustive and force a single-cause attribution; 'lifestyle choice' is a contested framing but is a real position held by respondents, and 'born that way' is offered as its counterweight

[HALF SAMPLE SHOWN RESPONSE OPTIONS IN REVERSE ORDER]

Do you approve or disapprove of each of the following living their lives as they wish? People who are transgender or nonbinary

Wording notes: no middle option | parallel items for gay or lesbian people and bisexual people in the same grid | 'living their lives as they wish' is a broad, non-specific stimulus

neutral — symmetric four-point approve/disapprove with rotated poles; the stimulus is vague but identically vague across the three groups compared

[HALF SAMPLE SHOWN RESPONSE OPTIONS IN REVERSE ORDER]

In recent years, more political and media attention has been focused on transgender and nonbinary people. Do you think this is a good thing for society, a bad thing for society, or neither a good nor bad thing for society?

Wording notes: premise stated as fact in the stem | explicit 'neither' midpoint

neutral — the premise that attention has increased is factually defensible and both evaluative directions are offered with a midpoint

[HALF SAMPLE SHOWN RESPONSE OPTIONS IN REVERSE ORDER]

On balance, how supportive or unsupportive do you think the increased political and media attention on transgender and nonbinary people has been for their community?

Wording notes: no midpoint | notable divergence between the general public and LGBTQ+ adults, who answer in the opposite direction

neutral — symmetric four-point scale with rotated poles

[HALF SAMPLE SHOWN RESPONSE OPTIONS IN REVERSE ORDER]

Thinking about each of the following groups who identify as transgender or nonbinary, do you believe... Young children

Wording notes: 'just a phase' is a delegitimizing frame supplied by the pollster as one pole | no neutral 'don't know enough' option other than item nonresponse | age of the trans person is the experimental variable across three items

loaded_terms — 'just a phase' imports a specific skeptical narrative as a scale pole; the opposing pole ('their true identity') is affirming, so the scale is symmetric in direction but both anchors are contested language rather than neutral description

[HALF SAMPLE SHOWN RESPONSE OPTIONS IN REVERSE ORDER]

Thinking about each of the following groups who identify as transgender or nonbinary, do you believe... Teenagers

Wording notes: 'just a phase' is a delegitimizing frame supplied by the pollster as one pole | no neutral 'don't know enough' option other than item nonresponse | age of the trans person is the experimental variable across three items

loaded_terms — 'just a phase' imports a specific skeptical narrative as a scale pole; the opposing pole ('their true identity') is affirming, so the scale is symmetric in direction but both anchors are contested language rather than neutral description

[HALF SAMPLE SHOWN RESPONSE OPTIONS IN REVERSE ORDER]

Thinking about each of the following groups who identify as transgender or nonbinary, do you believe... Adults

Wording notes: 'just a phase' is a delegitimizing frame supplied by the pollster as one pole | no neutral 'don't know enough' option other than item nonresponse | age of the trans person is the experimental variable across three items

loaded_terms — 'just a phase' imports a specific skeptical narrative as a scale pole; the opposing pole ('their true identity') is affirming, so the scale is symmetric in direction but both anchors are contested language rather than neutral description

[HALF SAMPLE SHOWN RESPONSE OPTIONS IN REVERSE ORDER]

Issues regarding transgender and nonbinary people have come up in many states in the past few years. Which comes closer to your view?

Wording notes: the two alternatives are not logical opposites - one is about importance, the other about elected officials' motives | the 'distract' option is considerably longer and more elaborated than the 'priority' option | no middle option

double_barreled — the second option bundles a motive claim ('mostly using ... to distract') with a priority judgment, so agreement can express either cynicism about politicians or a view that the issue is unimportant; the asymmetric length of the two options also favors the second

[HALF SAMPLE SHOWN RESPONSE OPTIONS IN REVERSE ORDER]

Gender affirming care can include gender-affirming surgeries, puberty blockers for teenagers, and hormone treatments. Do you favor or oppose each of the following? State laws that prevent a child younger than 18 who identifies as transgender or nonbinary from receiving gender-affirming medical care when the parents, the child and their doctors believe that medical treatments are appropriate

Wording notes: preamble defines gender-affirming care as including surgeries, puberty blockers and hormone treatments | no middle option | stipulates that parents, the child and doctors all agree the treatment is appropriate, which removes the consent controversy from the frame | restrictive-direction item: 'favor' is the restrictive answer

neutral — the battery is unusually well constructed for wording research because it mirrors each policy in both polarities; the 'parents, child and doctors agree' clause in the minor items does supply an affirming cue, but it is present identically in both the ban and the protect versions

[HALF SAMPLE SHOWN RESPONSE OPTIONS IN REVERSE ORDER]

If a teenager tells a teacher or other school personnel that they identify as transgender or nonbinary but they do not want to tell their parents, which comes closest to your opinion on how the school should respond?

Wording notes: four graded options rather than a binary, which separates absolutists from those who allow exceptions | the stem explicitly states the student does not want the parents told, which foregrounds the student's autonomy interest

neutral — the four-point construction is balanced two-and-two around the notification question; naming the student's wish is a necessary premise for the item rather than an advocacy cue

[HALF SAMPLE SHOWN RESPONSE OPTIONS IN REVERSE ORDER]

Do you believe that schools in your area are doing too much to accept transgender and nonbinary students, too little to accept transgender and nonbinary students, or are they already doing the right amount?

Wording notes: localized to 'schools in your area', which respondents may know little about | explicit 'right amount' midpoint

neutral — balanced too much / too little construction with a midpoint

[GRID ITEMS RANDOMIZED, HALF SAMPLE SHOWN RESPONSE OPTIONS IN REVERSE ORDER]

Should each of the following be allowed always, in most cases, in rare cases, or never? Transgender girls being allowed to compete on girls' teams in sports

Wording notes: four-point always/never scale rather than a binary, which captures conditional permissiveness | grid items randomized; response order reversed for half the sample | battery covers trans boys and men as well as trans girls and women, which most sports items omit

neutral — the four-point scale is symmetric, and including the trans-boys and trans-men items supplies the comparison most sports questions leave out

[GRID ITEMS RANDOMIZED, HALF SAMPLE SHOWN RESPONSE OPTIONS IN REVERSE ORDER]

Should each of the following be allowed always, in most cases, in rare cases, or never? Transgender women being allowed to compete on women's teams in sports

Wording notes: four-point always/never scale rather than a binary, which captures conditional permissiveness | grid items randomized; response order reversed for half the sample | battery covers trans boys and men as well as trans girls and women, which most sports items omit

neutral — the four-point scale is symmetric, and including the trans-boys and trans-men items supplies the comparison most sports questions leave out

[GRID ITEMS RANDOMIZED, HALF SAMPLE SHOWN RESPONSE OPTIONS IN REVERSE ORDER]

Should each of the following be allowed always, in most cases, in rare cases, or never? Transgender boys being allowed to compete on boys' teams in sports

Wording notes: four-point always/never scale rather than a binary, which captures conditional permissiveness | grid items randomized; response order reversed for half the sample | battery covers trans boys and men as well as trans girls and women, which most sports items omit

neutral — the four-point scale is symmetric, and including the trans-boys and trans-men items supplies the comparison most sports questions leave out

[GRID ITEMS RANDOMIZED, HALF SAMPLE SHOWN RESPONSE OPTIONS IN REVERSE ORDER]

Should each of the following be allowed always, in most cases, in rare cases, or never? Transgender men being allowed to compete on men's teams in sports

Wording notes: four-point always/never scale rather than a binary, which captures conditional permissiveness | grid items randomized; response order reversed for half the sample | battery covers trans boys and men as well as trans girls and women, which most sports items omit

neutral — the four-point scale is symmetric, and including the trans-boys and trans-men items supplies the comparison most sports questions leave out