probability panel
SSSSRS
Trans Visibility, Connection, and Support · Feb 20–23, 2026 · US national
Methodology
- Pollster
- SSRS independent
- Sponsor
- Human Rights Campaign Foundation
- Commissioned by
- Human Rights Campaign Foundation
- Fielded
- Feb 20–23, 2026
- Population
- adults 18+
- Sample size
- 1,032
- Sample frame
- probability panel
- Panel
- SSRS Opinion Panel
- Mode
- probability-based online panel omnibus with a small telephone component; 'The SSRS Opinion Panel Omnibus is a national, twice-per-month, probability-based survey.'
- Margin of error
- +/-3.5 percentage points
- Weighting
- Estimates are weighted to represent the target population of U.S. adults ages 18 or older. One-way estimates are weighted proportions; two-way estimates are weighted predicted probabilities from logistic regression models controlling for age, gender, education, race/ethnicity, region, party identification, work/employment status, and the respondent's beliefs about the origins of transgender identity.
- Geography
- US national
- Base notes
- web n=1,002 and telephone n=30; English n=1,005 and Spanish n=27
Sources
Verification note. The strongest-documented advocacy-commissioned poll in this sweep: HRC published a 12-page methodology-and-tables document including full SSRS crosstabs (study #Z8904) with party-ID banners. All wording and percentages below are transcribed from those tables. Note the survey does not ask about any restrictive policy - only about rights, healthcare access, employment protection and school protection framed as 'the same as everyone else', which is the high-support end of the question space.
Figures below are transcribed from these documents. Where they disagree with the source, the source governs.
Questions asked (6)
personally knowing a transgender family member, friend, coworker or acquaintance
Do you personally know a: transgender family member / transgender friend / transgender coworker / transgender acquaintance
Transgender family member - No
85%
Transgender coworker - No
85%
Transgender friend - No
77%
Transgender acquaintance - No
71%
Transgender acquaintance - Yes, but we're not very close
19%
Transgender friend - Yes, but we're not very close
12%
Transgender coworker - Yes, but we're not very close
10%
Transgender family member - Yes, but we're not very close
7%
Transgender acquaintance - Yes, we're somewhat close
7%
Transgender friend - Yes, we're somewhat close
6%
Transgender friend - Yes, we're very close
5%
Transgender family member - Yes, we're very close
4%
Transgender family member - Yes, we're somewhat close
4%
Transgender coworker - Yes, we're somewhat close
3%
Transgender acquaintance - Yes, we're very close
3%
Transgender coworker - Yes, we're very close
2%
Knows at least one transgender family member, friend, coworker or acquaintance (net) 41%
Wording notes: four separate relationship items rather than one global 'do you know a transgender person' item, which HRC says is why its 41% estimate exceeds earlier national measures
neutral — Disaggregating contact by relationship type and closeness is a methodological improvement, not a lean; it does raise the measured prevalence relative to single-item measures, which HRC discloses.
frequency of conversation with a transgender person in the past year
Over the past year, how often have you had a conversation with someone who: is transgender?
Once a week or more, or about once a month (net 'regular contact')
27%
neutral — Standard frequency item.
transgender people should have the same rights and protections as everyone else
To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statements?
Transgender people should have the same rights and protections as everyone else.
Agree 43%
Wording notes: abstract equal-treatment statement with no policy trade-off and no middle option
tilts_affirming — 'The same rights and protections as everyone else' is a near-tautological equality frame that draws very high agreement even from respondents who back restrictive policies; it should not be read as support for any specific measure.
Subgroup figures (13)
same ability as anyone else to get the healthcare they need
To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statements?
Transgender people should have the same ability as anyone else to get the healthcare they need.
Agree 47%
Wording notes: says 'the healthcare they need' without naming gender-affirming care, minors, or public funding
tilts_affirming — The item avoids every contested element - it does not mention transition-related care, age of patient, or who pays - so it measures a generic access norm rather than opinion on gender-affirming care. This is why it returns 88% agreement where procedure-specific items in other surveys return pluralities against.
Subgroup figures (6)
protection from discrimination in hiring and employment
To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statements?
Transgender people should be protected from discrimination in hiring and employment.
Agree 41%
neutral — Names a concrete policy domain (hiring and employment) with a balanced four-point scale; this is the most policy-anchored of the four items and correspondingly returns the lowest agreement and the widest party gap.
Subgroup figures (6)
protection of transgender students from discrimination and harassment in schools
To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statements?
Transgender students should be protected from discrimination and harassment in schools.
Agree 44%
Wording notes: 'discrimination and harassment' bundles two things that draw different levels of support
double_barreled — Combines protection from discrimination (a contested policy question about sports, facilities and pronouns) with protection from harassment (near-universally endorsed), so agreement cannot be attributed to either.
Subgroup figures (6)