TRTavern Research

Do you personally know anyone who is transgender?

Wording notes: 'No' listed first

neutral — factual contact item

How much have you been hearing or reading about issues related to people who are transgender lately?

Wording notes: wording replicates Hart's April 2025 Q4 for Searchlight, enabling a same-client trend

neutral — standard exposure item

When it comes to transgender issues and policies, do you think Democrats are...?

Wording notes: replicates the Hart April 2025 item for the same client

neutral — symmetric item asked of each actor in turn

And what about Republicans? When it comes to transgender issues and policies, do you think they are...? And what about the Trump Administration? When it comes to transgender issues and policies, do you think they are ...?

neutral — identical construction to the Democratic version

Which position do you agree with more?

Wording notes: the restrictive alternative is phrased as refusing to 'tolerate' people, an unusually harsh construction

tilts_affirming — the opposing option asserts a right not to tolerate a group, which few respondents will endorse regardless of their policy views; this inflates the 70% figure relative to any concrete policy question in the same survey

Which position do you agree with more? [Form 'safety', n=751] - Ensuring safety for transgender people means supporting their gender identity - You can protect transgender people without acknowledging their gender identity [Form 'equal_treatment', n=771] - Equal treatment for transgender people means supporting their gender identity - You can treat transgender people equally without acknowledging their gender identity

Wording notes: split-sample test of whether 'safety' or 'equal treatment' framing changes the result

neutral — both halves state the two positions symmetrically; the design isolates whether the framing word matters (it barely does)

In your opinion, which of the following actions towards transgender people would you consider to be bullying?

In your opinion, which of the following actions towards transgender people would you consider to be bullying? - Excluding someone from groups or activities because they are transgender - Refusing to use someone's name, or calling them a name other than the one they've asked you to use - Using someone's birth name, rather than the name they've asked you to use - Not acknowledging someone's gender identity, consistently referring to them as a different gender - Not acknowledging someone's gender identity, refusing to use the pronouns they prefer - Making fun of someone's appearance or clothing - Requiring someone to use the bathrooms corresponding to their biological sex - Preventing someone from using bathrooms corresponding to their gender identity

Wording notes: the same underlying bathroom policy is asked twice in opposite framings ('requiring... biological sex' vs. 'preventing... gender identity')

neutral — the battery deliberately includes both an active and a restrictive framing of the same bathroom rule and both a name and a pronoun version of misgendering, which is a careful design for measuring where the public's line sits

Do you support or oppose policies that require that transgender athletes compete on teams that match the sex they were assigned at birth, not the gender they identify with?

Wording notes: uses 'the sex they were assigned at birth' rather than 'biological sex' in this item

neutral — single-barreled support/oppose with a not-sure option and non-pejorative terminology on both sides

Which position do you agree with more? - Transgender youth should play on school sports teams that match their biological sex / Transgender youth should play on school sports teams that match their gender identity - Transgender adults should compete in college and professional sports that match their biological sex / ...that match their gender identity - Federal law should require school sports teams to place transgender youth based on their biological sex / Decisions about transgender youth in school sports teams should be left to states and local school districts - Federal law should require college and professional sports to place transgender athletes on teams based on their biological sex / Decisions about transgender athletes in college and professional sports should be left to the NCAA and professional sports leagues

Wording notes: 'biological sex' used throughout these items, in contrast with the 'assigned at birth' phrasing used in Q40

neutral — symmetric two-position construction with a not-sure option; the pairing of substance items with federalism items lets the two be distinguished

Which position do you agree with more? - K-12 students should use school bathrooms and locker rooms that match their biological sex / K-12 students should use school bathrooms and locker rooms that match their gender identity - K-12 students should use school bathrooms and locker rooms that match their gender identity / K-12 students who are transgender should use a gender neutral or single stall bathroom

Wording notes: the second item replaces the birth-sex option with a single-stall option, testing whether an accommodation alternative changes the result

neutral — a well-constructed pair: the gender-identity option holds constant while the opposing option changes from birth-sex to separate-facility, and it draws almost identical support (59% vs. 57%)

Which position do you agree with more? - Gender transition surgeries should not be available to anyone under 18 / Gender transition surgeries should be available to minors only with approval from their parents and doctors - Gender transition surgeries should not be available to anyone under 18 / Gender transition surgeries should be available to minors without requiring approval from their parents - Gender transition care like puberty blockers and hormone treatments should not be available to anyone under 18 / Gender transition like puberty blockers and hormone treatments should be available to minors with approval from their parents and their doctors - Gender transition care like puberty blockers and hormone treatments should not be available to anyone under 18 / Gender transition like puberty blockers and hormone treatments should be available to minors without requiring approval from their parents

Wording notes: each policy is asked twice, once against a parental-consent version and once against a no-parental-consent version

neutral — the paired design cleanly isolates the effect of the parental-consent qualifier (surgeries: 66% vs. 74% for a ban; blockers: 61% vs. 67%), which is genuine measurement rather than advocacy

Which position do you agree with more? - Adults should be able to access gender transition care like hormone treatments after consulting with a physician / Adults should not be able to access gender transition care like hormone treatments at all - Adults should be able to access gender transition surgeries after consulting with a physician / Adults should not be able to access gender transition surgeries at all

Wording notes: the restrictive option is an absolute prohibition ('at all'), with no intermediate restriction offered

tilts_affirming — the only alternative to access is a total adult ban, a position almost no one holds; a middle option (e.g. waiting periods, age floors above 18, insurance limits) would likely lower the 67-68% figure

Which position do you agree with more? - Businesses and landlords should be allowed to refuse service to transgender people / Businesses and landlords should be required to treat transgender people equally - Federal law should require businesses and landlords to treat transgender people equally / Federal law should let businesses and landlords set their own policies regarding serving transgender people

Wording notes: second version adds the federal-mandate frame to test how much of the support survives it

neutral — the paired design shows the cost of federalizing the requirement (69% -> 59%), which is a real and deliberately measured effect