probability RDD
PRRI
PRRI April 2019 Survey ('America's Growing Support for Transgender Rights') · Apr 9–20, 2019 · US national
Methodology
- Pollster
- PRRI independent
- Sponsor
- PRRI
- Fielded
- Apr 9–20, 2019
- Population
- adults
- Sample size
- 1,100
- Sample frame
- probability RDD
- Panel
- SSRS Omnibus
- Mode
- telephone - bilingual (English and Spanish) RDD landline and cell-phone interviews, live interviewer, fielded by SSRS
- Margin of error
- +/- 3.5 percentage points
- Weighting
- base weight for number of landlines/cellphones and within-household selection; post-stratified and raked (IPF) to the CPS March Supplement on age by gender, Census region by gender, education, race/ethnicity, marital status, population density quintile and phone usage; separate raking group for the Texas oversample
- Geography
- US national
- Base notes
- 668 of the 1,100 interviews were conducted on a cell phone; the survey also over-sampled Texas (n=150). Republican n=352, independent n=359, Democrat n=328.
Sources
Verification note. Item wording and four-point favor/oppose distributions transcribed verbatim from PollingReport.com; field dates, N and MoE confirmed against PRRI's own report page. Mode/weighting not captured. || wordings, toplines and party breaks read from the PRRI report page. The survey also carried four religiously-based-service-refusal items (small business owners 57% oppose, licensed professionals 67% oppose, adoption agencies 60% oppose, wedding service providers 55% oppose), but the report page did not confirm whether those items named transgender people or only gay and lesbian people, so they are not recorded here - see known_gaps. || Field dates, n, MOE, design effect and weighting copied from Appendix 1 of the report PDF. Four-point distributions for the bathroom, comfort, gender-identity and contact items come from the printed trend columns of the August 2021 AVA topline; nets and subgroup figures come from the June 2019 report text and figures. || 45 favor / 47 oppose, field dates, n=1,100, mode and MOE read from the PRRI report. PRRI notes the partisan comparisons on this item were not statistically significant. No transgender-athlete question appears in this report - a genuine gap for 2019, when sports had not yet become the dominant frame. || WORDING RECOVERY SWEEP. Full Q.1 battery instruction, item texts and toplines copied character-for-character from PRRI's April 2019 LGBT topline PDF. The database previously carried reconstructed 'Do you favor or oppose laws that...' stems.
Figures below are transcribed from these documents. Where they disagree with the source, the source governs.
Questions asked (15)
LGBT nondiscrimination protections in jobs, public accommodations and housing
Respondents rated each policy on a strongly favor / favor / oppose / strongly oppose scale.
Laws that would protect gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people against discrimination in jobs, public accommodations, and housing
Strongly favor
31%
Strongly oppose
10%
Unsure/Refused
4%
Favor 40%Oppose 15%
Wording notes: bundles transgender people with gay, lesbian and bisexual people rather than isolating gender identity
neutral — policy stated plainly with a symmetric four-point scale
laws requiring bathroom use matching sex at birth
Respondents rated each policy on a strongly favor / favor / oppose / strongly oppose scale.
Laws that require transgender individuals to use bathrooms that correspond to their sex at birth rather than their current gender identity
Strongly oppose
18%
Strongly favor
17%
Unsure/Refused
8%
Favor 28%Oppose 29%
Wording notes: uses 'sex at birth' and 'current gender identity' as the contrast pair | favor = restriction, so the scale direction is inverted relative to most trans-rights items in the same battery
neutral — the restriction is described in its own terms without epithet; both poles of the contrast are named
Subgroup figures (9)
allowing transgender people to serve in the U.S. military
Allowing transgender people to serve in the U.S. military.
Strongly favor
22%
Strongly oppose
14%
Unsure/Refused
5%
Favor 41%Oppose 18%
Wording notes: net favor reported in the report figure; four-point distribution not published there
neutral — plain policy statement with a symmetric scale
Subgroup figures (17)
party
gender
race
religion
region
having a close friend or family member who is transgender
Do you have a close friend or family member who is transgender?
Wording reconstructed from: PRRI report narrative ('the proportion of Americans who say they have a close friend or family member who is transgender'); exact interrogative wording not published on the report page
No
75%
Yes, close friend
18%
Yes, family member
7%
Yes, myself
0%
Yes, close friend or family member (net) 24%
Wording notes: 'close friend or family member' is a narrower contact measure than the more common 'know someone who is transgender'
neutral — factual contact item
Subgroup figures (5)
allowing transgender people to serve in uniform
Do you favor or oppose allowing transgender people to serve in uniform in the U.S. military?
Wording notes: 'serve in uniform' rather than Gallup's 'openly ... serve'; the absence of 'openly' produces a materially lower support figure (63% here vs. Gallup's 71% a month later)
neutral — symmetric favor/oppose stem
Subgroup figures (3)
employment, housing and public accommodation nondiscrimination laws
Do you favor or oppose laws that would protect gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people against discrimination in jobs, public accommodations, and housing?
Wording reconstructed from: PRRI report quotes the item stem verbatim; the favor/oppose stem is reconstructed
Wording notes: names transgender people explicitly
neutral — symmetric favor/oppose stem
requiring bathroom use consistent with sex assigned at birth
Do you favor or oppose laws that require transgender people to use bathrooms consistent with their sex assigned at birth rather than their gender identity?
Wording reconstructed from: PRRI report quotes the item stem as 'require transgender people to use bathrooms consistent with their sex assigned at birth'; the favor/oppose stem is reconstructed
Wording notes: uses 'sex assigned at birth', the phrasing preferred by trans-affirming sources, in a restriction-direction item
neutral — symmetric favor/oppose stem on a concrete policy
self-reported change in support for transgender rights over five years
Compared to five years ago, are you more supportive or more opposed to transgender rights?
Wording reconstructed from: reconstructed from PRRI's description of the item in its spotlight and report
More supportive
62%
More opposed
25%
Wording notes: retrospective self-report of attitude change, which is known to overstate movement in the socially expected direction
unclear — retrospective self-report items measure perceived rather than actual change and are sensitive to social desirability
Subgroup figures (2)
self-reported change in support for transgender rights over five years
Compared to your views five years ago, are your current views about rights for transgender people generally much more supportive, more supportive, more opposed, or much more opposed?
More supportive (net)
62%
More opposed (net)
25%
Wording notes: retrospective self-report, not a current attitude measure | no explicit 'no change' option offered
tilts_affirming — omitting a 'stayed the same' option forces respondents into a direction of change, and social-desirability pressure pushes reported movement toward 'more supportive'; the resulting 62% cannot be read as a change measure
Subgroup figures (15)
comfort with a close friend disclosing they are transgender
How comfortable or uncomfortable do you think you would be with each of the following?
Having a close friend tell you they're transgender
Very comfortable
36%
Somewhat comfortable
27%
Somewhat uncomfortable
24%
Very uncomfortable
12%
Don't know/Refused (VOL.)
2%
Comfortable (net) 63%
Wording notes: hypothetical social-distance item
neutral — balanced comfortable/uncomfortable scale; the hypothetical framing is standard for social-distance measures
Subgroup figures (12)
party
gender
education
religion
comfort with a transgender teacher in the local elementary school
How comfortable or uncomfortable do you think you would be with each of the following?
Learning that a teacher in your local elementary school is transgender
Somewhat comfortable
30%
Very comfortable
26%
Somewhat uncomfortable
24%
Very uncomfortable
17%
Don't know/Refused (VOL.)
3%
Comfortable (net) 56%
Wording notes: hypothetical social-distance item placed in a school context
neutral — balanced scale; no evaluative framing of the teacher
Subgroup figures (10)
comfort with one's own child disclosing they are transgender
How comfortable or uncomfortable do you think you would be with each of the following?
Having your own child tell you they are transgender
Very comfortable
24%
Somewhat comfortable
24%
Somewhat uncomfortable
24%
Very uncomfortable
24%
Don't know/Refused (VOL.)
4%
Comfortable (net) 48%Uncomfortable (net) 48%
Wording notes: hypothetical about the respondent's own family
neutral — balanced scale; asks about the respondent's own reaction rather than a policy judgment
Subgroup figures (12)
party
gender
education
religion
perceived stigma or negative social judgment faced by transgender people
the following groups face a lot of stigma or negative social judgment in their community
Wording reconstructed from: PRRI, 'America's Growing Support for Transgender Rights' (report PDF, June 2019), Figure 5 caption ('Percent who say the following groups face a lot of stigma or negative social judgment in their community'); PRRI does not print the full item stem or answer set in the report and no topline PDF for this item was retrievable
At least a little (net) 79%
Wording notes: response labels reconstructed from narrative text, not from a topline
unclear — the exact stem and answer labels were not retrievable, so the scale cannot be assessed
Subgroup figures (10)
belief that there are only two genders vs. a range of gender identities
Do you think there are only two possible gender identities, man or woman; or do you think there is a range of many possible gender identities?
Only two genders, strongly
43%
Range of genders, strongly
24%
Range of genders, not strongly
16%
Only two genders, not strongly
12%
Only two genders (net) 55%Range of genders (net) 40%
Wording notes: forced binary choice with no middle or 'depends' option | strength-of-view follow-up folded into the four printed categories
neutral — both alternatives stated in parallel; the absence of a middle option is a real constraint but applies symmetrically
Subgroup figures (11)
perceived federal legal status of anti-LGBT employment discrimination
To the best of your knowledge, is it currently LEGAL or NOT LEGAL under FEDERAL LAW [INSERT, RANDOMIZE] because they are gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender? What about [INSERT, RANDOMIZE]?
for a business to fire or refuse to hire someone
Not legal
67%
Legal
28%
Don't know/Refused (VOL.)
5%
Wording notes: knowledge item, not an attitude item | capitalised LEGAL / NOT LEGAL in script
neutral — factual-knowledge item with a symmetric two-option answer set