probability panelsurvey of transgender people, not of the public
Washington Post/KFF
KFF/The Washington Post Trans Survey · Nov 10, 2022 – Dec 2022 · US national
Not a public-opinion poll. This surveys transgender people about their own lives, mostly
through nonprobability community samples. It describes a population and is not comparable with polls of the general public.
Methodology
- Pollster
- Washington Post/KFF independent
- Sponsor
- KFF and The Washington Post (both organizations contributed financing)
- Commissioned by
- KFF / The Washington Post Survey Project
- Fielded
- Nov 10, 2022 – Dec 2022
- Population
- transgender adults (n=515) plus a companion general-population/cisgender adult sample (n=823); 'Total adults' columns are the combined n=1,338 weighted to the U.S. adult population
- Sample size
- 1,338
- Sample frame
- probability panel
- Panel
- Gallup Panel; NORC AmeriSpeak; SSRS Opinion Panel (plus KFF and SSRS Omnibus telephone callbacks)
- Mode
- online and by telephone; multi-panel probability recruitment with telephone callback augmentation for under-surveyed respondents
- Margin of error
- +/- 7 percentage points for the trans adult sample and +/- 4 percentage points for the cisgender adult sample and for total adults, including the design effect
- Weighting
- Trans adults from the combined phone and panel samples were weighted separately to the national U.S. adult trans population using CDC Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System data and the Williams Institute's small-area-estimation analysis of BRFSS for states that had not recently fielded the SOGI module; weighting parameters were age, education, race/ethnicity, and region. The full U.S. adult sample was weighted to 2021 Current Population Survey demographics (sex, age, education, race/ethnicity, region), to CPS September 2019 Volunteering and Civic Life Supplement patterns of civic engagement, and to Pew NPORS frequency of internet use. Weights account for differential probability of selection across sample types and panel recruitment design.
- Geography
- US national
- Base notes
- 515 trans adults and 823 cisgender adults. The trans sample was assembled from three probability panels - the Gallup Panel (n=252), NORC's AmeriSpeak panel (n=146), and the SSRS Opinion Panel (n=85) - plus telephone callbacks to respondents of previous KFF surveys (n=29) and previous SSRS Omnibus surveys (n=3) who had identified as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or trans. Three trans interviews were conducted in Spanish. The cisgender comparison sample came from the SSRS Opinion Panel, online (n=784) or by phone for non-internet panelists (n=39), with 27 completed in Spanish. The cisgender sample includes two adults who identify as nonbinary and did not identify as trans.
Sources
Verification note. All wordings, response options, sample sizes, and Total/trans-adult percentages copied directly from the KFF/Washington Post Trans Survey topline PDF; the party, urbanicity, and know-a-trans-person breaks recorded on Q26, Q31b and Q32b were read from the narrative of the full report PDF, which is the only place KFF published them. Quality-control note from the topline: four cases were removed for failing both attention checks, and fourteen further cases were removed from the trans sample after review of open-ended and gender-identity responses because the respondent did not actually identify as trans or was not responding truthfully. The topline publishes no party crosstab table; the partisan figures available anywhere in the KFF release are only those stated in prose in the report, and those are what is recorded here.
Figures below are transcribed from these documents. Where they disagree with the source, the source governs.
Questions asked (40)
whether gender is determined by sex assigned at birth
Which statement comes closer to your views, even if neither is exactly right? (rotate 1-2/2-1)
Whether someone is a man or a woman is determined by the sex they were assigned at birth
57%
Someone can be a man or a woman even if that is different from the sex they were assigned at birth
43%
No answer
1%
Wording notes: no middle option | response order rotated
neutral — the two alternatives are stated symmetrically and rotated; this is the wording AP-NORC later adapted using 'biological characteristics' in place of 'sex they were assigned at birth'
Subgroup figures (7)
whether Americans are more or less accepting of trans people than ten years ago
Would you say people in the U.S. are generally (more) accepting or generally (less) accepting of people who are (INSERT ITEM) than they were ten years ago, or are they about the same? trans
More accepting
61%
About the same
24%
Less accepting
15%
Wording notes: items scrambled; text in parentheses rotated | parallel items asked about 'lesbian, gay, or bisexual' and 'nonbinary or gender non-conforming' people
neutral — symmetric more/less construction with an explicit 'about the same' midpoint
Subgroup figures (4)
whether teachers should discuss trans identity, by grade level: kindergarten to third grade
Do you think it is (appropriate) or (inappropriate) for teachers to discuss trans identity in public schools with students in (INSERT ITEM)? kindergarten to third grade
Inappropriate
77%
Appropriate
23%
Wording notes: no middle option | text in parentheses rotated | grade level varied across four items, producing a clean age gradient
neutral — binary appropriate/inappropriate with rotated order; 'discuss trans identity' is left undefined, which is a real ambiguity but not a directional cue
Subgroup figures (2)
whether teachers should discuss trans identity, by grade level: elementary school grades 4 and 5
Do you think it is (appropriate) or (inappropriate) for teachers to discuss trans identity in public schools with students in (INSERT ITEM)? elementary school grades 4 and 5
Inappropriate
70%
Appropriate
30%
Wording notes: no middle option | text in parentheses rotated | grade level varied across four items, producing a clean age gradient
neutral — binary appropriate/inappropriate with rotated order; 'discuss trans identity' is left undefined, which is a real ambiguity but not a directional cue
Subgroup figures (3)
whether teachers should discuss trans identity, by grade level: middle school grades 6-8
Do you think it is (appropriate) or (inappropriate) for teachers to discuss trans identity in public schools with students in (INSERT ITEM)? middle school grades 6-8
Inappropriate
52%
Appropriate
48%
Wording notes: no middle option | text in parentheses rotated | grade level varied across four items, producing a clean age gradient
neutral — binary appropriate/inappropriate with rotated order; 'discuss trans identity' is left undefined, which is a real ambiguity but not a directional cue
Subgroup figures (2)
whether teachers should discuss trans identity, by grade level: high school grades 9-12
Do you think it is (appropriate) or (inappropriate) for teachers to discuss trans identity in public schools with students in (INSERT ITEM)? high school grades 9-12
Appropriate
64%
Inappropriate
36%
Wording notes: no middle option | text in parentheses rotated | grade level varied across four items, producing a clean age gradient
neutral — binary appropriate/inappropriate with rotated order; 'discuss trans identity' is left undefined, which is a real ambiguity but not a directional cue
Subgroup figures (2)
laws prohibiting discrimination against trans people: by medical professionals
Do you (support) or (oppose) laws prohibiting discrimination against trans people (INSERT ITEMS)? by medical professionals
Wording notes: no middle option | items c-g scrambled, a and b asked first | text in parentheses rotated
neutral — symmetric support/oppose; 'laws prohibiting discrimination' is the standard statutory framing rather than a loaded one
Subgroup figures (2)
laws prohibiting discrimination against trans people: from getting health insurance
Do you (support) or (oppose) laws prohibiting discrimination against trans people (INSERT ITEMS)? from getting health insurance
Wording notes: no middle option | items c-g scrambled, a and b asked first | text in parentheses rotated
neutral — symmetric support/oppose; 'laws prohibiting discrimination' is the standard statutory framing rather than a loaded one
Subgroup figures (2)
laws prohibiting discrimination against trans people: in K-12 schools
Do you (support) or (oppose) laws prohibiting discrimination against trans people (INSERT ITEMS)? in K-12 schools
Wording notes: no middle option | items c-g scrambled, a and b asked first | text in parentheses rotated
neutral — symmetric support/oppose; 'laws prohibiting discrimination' is the standard statutory framing rather than a loaded one
Subgroup figures (2)
laws prohibiting discrimination against trans people: at colleges and universities
Do you (support) or (oppose) laws prohibiting discrimination against trans people (INSERT ITEMS)? at colleges and universities
Wording notes: no middle option | items c-g scrambled, a and b asked first | text in parentheses rotated
neutral — symmetric support/oppose; 'laws prohibiting discrimination' is the standard statutory framing rather than a loaded one
Subgroup figures (2)
laws prohibiting discrimination against trans people: at their jobs and workplaces
Do you (support) or (oppose) laws prohibiting discrimination against trans people (INSERT ITEMS)? at their jobs and workplaces
Wording notes: no middle option | items c-g scrambled, a and b asked first | text in parentheses rotated
neutral — symmetric support/oppose; 'laws prohibiting discrimination' is the standard statutory framing rather than a loaded one
Subgroup figures (2)
laws prohibiting discrimination against trans people: in housing
Do you (support) or (oppose) laws prohibiting discrimination against trans people (INSERT ITEMS)? in housing
Wording notes: no middle option | items c-g scrambled, a and b asked first | text in parentheses rotated
neutral — symmetric support/oppose; 'laws prohibiting discrimination' is the standard statutory framing rather than a loaded one
Subgroup figures (3)
laws prohibiting discrimination against trans people: in the U.S. military
Do you (support) or (oppose) laws prohibiting discrimination against trans people (INSERT ITEMS)? in the U.S. military
Wording notes: no middle option | items c-g scrambled, a and b asked first | text in parentheses rotated
neutral — symmetric support/oppose; 'laws prohibiting discrimination' is the standard statutory framing rather than a loaded one
Subgroup figures (2)
access for trans children ages 10-14: gender-affirming counseling or therapy
Do you (support) or (oppose) trans children between the ages of 10 and 14 having access to (ITEM) under medical supervision? gender-affirming counseling or therapy
Wording notes: 'under medical supervision' clause supplies a safeguard cue absent from most other pollsters' versions | narrow age band (10-14) specified | no middle option
neutral — the 'under medical supervision' clause arguably tilts affirming, but it is a factually accurate description of the care and the response scale is symmetric
Subgroup figures (3)
access for trans children ages 10-14: puberty-blocking medication
Do you (support) or (oppose) trans children between the ages of 10 and 14 having access to (ITEM) under medical supervision? puberty-blocking medication
Wording notes: 'under medical supervision' clause supplies a safeguard cue absent from most other pollsters' versions | narrow age band (10-14) specified | no middle option
neutral — the 'under medical supervision' clause arguably tilts affirming, but it is a factually accurate description of the care and the response scale is symmetric
Subgroup figures (8)
access for trans teenagers ages 15-17: gender-affirming counseling or therapy
Do you (support) or (oppose) trans teenagers, between the ages of 15 and 17, having access to (ITEM) under medical supervision? gender-affirming counseling or therapy
Wording notes: 'under medical supervision' clause | narrow age band (15-17) specified | no middle option
neutral — same construction as the 10-14 battery; the age split is the experimental point of interest
Subgroup figures (2)
access for trans teenagers ages 15-17: hormonal treatments
Do you (support) or (oppose) trans teenagers, between the ages of 15 and 17, having access to (ITEM) under medical supervision? hormonal treatments
Wording notes: 'under medical supervision' clause | narrow age band (15-17) specified | no middle option
neutral — same construction as the 10-14 battery; the age split is the experimental point of interest
Subgroup figures (8)
trans women and girls competing with women and girls: professional sports
Thinking about trans women and girls - people whose sex was classified as male at birth but who currently identify as female - do you think trans women and girls should or should not be allowed to compete in sports with other women and girls at each of the following levels. professional sports
Should be allowed 34%65% Should not be allowed
Wording notes: preamble defines trans women as 'people whose sex was classified as male at birth' | no middle option | item order rotated ABCD/DCBA | asks only about trans women and girls
neutral — the definitional preamble foregrounds birth sex classification, which primes a biological frame, but it is descriptive rather than evaluative and both response options are stated
Subgroup figures (3)
concern about trans girls' mental health if excluded from youth sports
If trans girls are not allowed to compete with other girls in youth sports, how concerned, if at all, are you that the mental health of trans girls will suffer?
Somewhat concerned
36%
Not too concerned
27%
Very concerned
19%
Not at all concerned
18%
Very/somewhat concerned (NET) 54%Not too/not at all concerned (NET) 46%
Wording notes: conditional framing: asks respondents to reason about a consequence of exclusion | asked immediately after the sports battery, so it is subject to order effects
tilts_affirming — the stem asserts a potential harm from exclusion and asks only about that harm; no parallel item asks about consequences of inclusion
Subgroup figures (6)
whether non-trans adults personally know a trans person
Aside from acquaintances, do you personally know anyone who is trans? (please select all that apply)
Wording notes: asked only of the 823 non-trans adults | 'aside from acquaintances' narrows the definition of knowing someone
neutral — standard contact measure; the 'aside from acquaintances' qualifier makes it a stricter test than most contact items
Subgroup figures (5)
overall life satisfaction
How (satisfied) or (dissatisfied) are you with your life as a whole these days? (rotate answer options 1-4/4-1; rotate items in parentheses to match; keep rotate same for q1f and q1 all items)
Somewhat satisfied
45%
Very satisfied
29%
Somewhat dissatisfied
22%
Very dissatisfied
5%
Very/somewhat satisfied (NET) 73%Somewhat/very dissatisfied (NET) 27%
Wording notes: forced four-point scale with no midpoint
neutral — standard satisfaction battery with rotated poles
Subgroup figures (6)
lifetime discrimination or violence because of gender identity: refused health care from a health care provider or someone else working in a health care setting
Have you ever been (INSERT ITEM) because of your gender identity, gender expression, or sexual identity? refused health care from a health care provider or someone else working in a health care setting
Wording notes: asked among those who identify as LGBT | items scrambled | lifetime rather than past-year recall
neutral — plain behavioral-experience items; the compound attribution ('gender identity, gender expression, or sexual identity') means the reported experiences cannot be attributed to gender identity alone
Subgroup figures (3)
lifetime discrimination or violence because of gender identity: asked unnecessary or invasive questions at your place of work
Have you ever been (INSERT ITEM) because of your gender identity, gender expression, or sexual identity? asked unnecessary or invasive questions at your place of work
Wording notes: asked among those who identify as LGBT | items scrambled | lifetime rather than past-year recall
neutral — plain behavioral-experience items; the compound attribution ('gender identity, gender expression, or sexual identity') means the reported experiences cannot be attributed to gender identity alone
Subgroup figures (3)
lifetime discrimination or violence because of gender identity: fired, denied a job, or denied a promotion
Have you ever been (INSERT ITEM) because of your gender identity, gender expression, or sexual identity? fired, denied a job, or denied a promotion
Wording notes: asked among those who identify as LGBT | items scrambled | lifetime rather than past-year recall
neutral — plain behavioral-experience items; the compound attribution ('gender identity, gender expression, or sexual identity') means the reported experiences cannot be attributed to gender identity alone
Subgroup figures (3)
lifetime discrimination or violence because of gender identity: evicted or denied housing
Have you ever been (INSERT ITEM) because of your gender identity, gender expression, or sexual identity? evicted or denied housing
Wording notes: asked among those who identify as LGBT | items scrambled | lifetime rather than past-year recall
neutral — plain behavioral-experience items; the compound attribution ('gender identity, gender expression, or sexual identity') means the reported experiences cannot be attributed to gender identity alone
Subgroup figures (3)
lifetime discrimination or violence because of gender identity: harassed or felt unsafe in a restroom or locker room
Have you ever been (INSERT ITEM) because of your gender identity, gender expression, or sexual identity? harassed or felt unsafe in a restroom or locker room
Wording notes: asked among those who identify as LGBT | items scrambled | lifetime rather than past-year recall
neutral — plain behavioral-experience items; the compound attribution ('gender identity, gender expression, or sexual identity') means the reported experiences cannot be attributed to gender identity alone
Subgroup figures (3)
lifetime discrimination or violence because of gender identity: verbally attacked
Have you ever been (INSERT ITEM) because of your gender identity, gender expression, or sexual identity? verbally attacked
Wording notes: asked among those who identify as LGBT | items scrambled | lifetime rather than past-year recall
neutral — plain behavioral-experience items; the compound attribution ('gender identity, gender expression, or sexual identity') means the reported experiences cannot be attributed to gender identity alone
Subgroup figures (3)
lifetime discrimination or violence because of gender identity: physically attacked
Have you ever been (INSERT ITEM) because of your gender identity, gender expression, or sexual identity? physically attacked
Wording notes: asked among those who identify as LGBT | items scrambled | lifetime rather than past-year recall
neutral — plain behavioral-experience items; the compound attribution ('gender identity, gender expression, or sexual identity') means the reported experiences cannot be attributed to gender identity alone
Subgroup figures (3)
moving to find a more accepting place to live
Have you ever moved to a different part of town or to a different city or state because you thought it would be a more accepting place for someone who is trans to live?
neutral — straightforward behavioral item
Subgroup figures (2)
perceived provider knowledge about trans health care
In general, how much do you feel the health care providers you have come into contact with know about providing health care for trans people?
neutral — symmetric four-point knowledge scale
Subgroup figures (7)
health care encounter experience: had to teach a doctor or other health care provider about trans people so that you could get appropriate care
Have you ever (INSERT ITEM)? had to teach a doctor or other health care provider about trans people so that you could get appropriate care
Wording notes: items D-E randomized | lifetime recall
neutral — behavioral-experience items with no evaluative framing
Subgroup figures (3)
health care encounter experience: had a doctor or other health care provider refuse to acknowledge your preferred gender identity and instead refer to your sex assigned at birth
Have you ever (INSERT ITEM)? had a doctor or other health care provider refuse to acknowledge your preferred gender identity and instead refer to your sex assigned at birth
Wording notes: items D-E randomized | lifetime recall
neutral — behavioral-experience items with no evaluative framing
Subgroup figures (3)
health care encounter experience: been asked unnecessary or invasive questions about your gender identity that were not related to the reason for your visit
Have you ever (INSERT ITEM)? been asked unnecessary or invasive questions about your gender identity that were not related to the reason for your visit
Wording notes: items D-E randomized | lifetime recall
neutral — behavioral-experience items with no evaluative framing
Subgroup figures (2)
provider refusal of gender-affirming treatment
Has a doctor or health care provider ever refused to provide you with gender-affirming treatments or health care, such as hormone treatments?
neutral — plain behavioral item
Subgroup figures (2)
insurance coverage of gender-affirming care (trans adults with insurance)
As far as you know, does your health insurance cover gender-affirming treatments or health care for those who do not identify with their sex assigned at birth, does it not cover, or are you not sure?
Wording notes: asked only of trans adults with health insurance (n=459) | explicit 'not sure' option
neutral — offers a 'not sure' option, which is important here because most respondents chose it
Subgroup figures (4)
ever had insurance that would not cover gender-affirming care
Have you ever had health insurance that would not cover gender-affirming treatments or gender-affirming health care?
Wording notes: explicit 'not sure' option
neutral — plain retrospective item with a 'not sure' escape
Subgroup figures (3)
has taken at least one transition-related step
Many people who do not identify with their sex assigned at birth begin transitioning to their preferred gender, while others do not. Thinking about the process of transitioning, have you done any of the following things, or not? Have you ever (INSERT ITEM), or not? [summary variable: has done at least one item at Q24]
Wording notes: summary variable computed across eight items covering social, legal, and medical steps | items E-H scrambled, A-D shown in order first
neutral — the battery deliberately mixes social steps (clothing, hair, name) with medical steps, which is the point of the measure
Subgroup figures (2)
age at which gender difference was first understood
At what age did you begin to understand that your gender was different from the sex you were assigned at birth? (open-end)
Wording notes: open-ended numeric response, banded by KFF for reporting | retrospective self-report
neutral — open-ended, so the response bands are the analyst's construction rather than a cue to the respondent
Subgroup figures (7)
age at which respondent first told others
And, at what age did you begin to tell others that you are trans or gender non-conforming, even if you did not know the word for it?
Wording notes: open-ended numeric response, banded by KFF | explicit 'have not told anyone' category
neutral — open-ended with an explicit not-yet-disclosed category
Subgroup figures (8)
unmet need for mental health services in the past 12 months
Was there a time in the past 12 months when you thought you might need mental health services or medication, but you didn't get them?
Wording notes: 12-month recall | asked of both samples, permitting a direct trans/general-population comparison
neutral — plain behavioral item asked identically of both samples
Subgroup figures (2)