Americans Are Divided on Issues Related to Transgender People, but Often Don't Want the Federal Government Involved
According to the American Civil Liberties Union, more than 500 anti-LGBTQ+ bills have been introduced in 2025 alone, most of which specifically target transgender people. Simultaneously, President Donald Trump has signed a slew of executive orders restricting the rights of transgender individuals and eliminating inclusive policies and language formerly used across the federal government.
A new Data for Progress survey examined the impacts of these recent policies on transgender adults and measured public opinion on many of these policies among the general population of U.S. adults.
Anti-LGBTQ+ Policies Are Negatively Impacting Transgender Americans and Making Them Consider Moving Out of State
The survey included an oversample of 111 transgender adults. Among these transgender Americans, 85% say recent anti-LGBTQ+ policies and rhetoric have negatively impacted their mental health.
When asked how they feel about recent anti-LGBTQ+ politics and rhetoric, around half of transgender adults say they are angry (55%), anxious (53%), depressed (49%), and stressed (48%).
A majority of transgender adults (52%) say they have considered moving out of their community or state as a result of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation.
Furthermore, when asked about their experiences as a result of anti-transgender policies and rhetoric in the last year, nearly half of transgender adults (49%) say they have heard anti-transgender remarks from a family, friend, coworker, or neighbor, and 41% say they were intentionally misgendered.
Alarmingly, more than 1 in 4 transgender adults (27%) say they did not feel safe going to the doctor or hospital when they were sick or injured out of fear of discrimination or mistreatment in the past year. Additionally, more than 1 in 10 transgender adults say they had difficulty using legal documents with their updated gender marker (14%), had difficulty trying to update the gender marker on their legal documents (13%), and had to wait excessive amounts of time before receiving gender-affirming medical care (11%).
There Is a Strong, Positive Correlation Between Knowing a Transgender Person and Supporting Trans-Inclusive Policies
The survey also asked a general sample of U.S. adults a variety of questions related to transgender people.
Fewer than 1 in 3 adults (29%) say they personally know someone who is transgender, and just 1 in 5 (20%) say they know someone who is nonbinary. In comparison, a majority of adults personally know someone who is gay (62%) or lesbian (55%). Only 42% of adults say they personally know someone who is bisexual.
In general, there is a positive correlation across the survey results between someone personally knowing a transgender person and expressing greater support for transgender-inclusive policies.
For instance, when adults are presented with conflicting viewpoints on transgender medical care, a majority of Americans (55%) say they think “families and physicians should be the ones making decisions about transgender youth medical care, not the government,” while around 1 in 3 (33%) think “the government should ban physicians from providing gender-related medical care to transgender youth.” Among adults who personally know a transgender person, the percentage who defer to families and physicians on decisions involving transgender medical care is more than double the percentage of those who say the government should ban transgender medical care — and it’s nearly triple among Independents who know a transgender person.
Around 3 in 5 Americans also express agreement with three statements in favor of families or doctors being able to ensure that transgender youth have access to medical care. Conversely, half of voters (50%) disagree with the one anti-trans statement tested — “Doctors who provide transgender youth medical care should lose their license to practice medicine” — including 37% who strongly disagree.
To further measure perceptions of transgender medical care, Data for Progress provided survey respondents with three descriptions of people ages 18 and below who may be affected by transgender medical care bans.
An outright majority (54%) believe an 18-year-old who has been prescribed transgender medical care from their doctor since age 13 should be allowed to receive transgender medical care, and pluralities of adults also support young people receiving transgender medical care in the other two scenarios tested, albeit to lesser degrees.
In January, a New York Times/Ipsos poll found that 79% of U.S. adults, including 67% of Democrats, think that transgender female athletes should not be allowed to compete in women’s sports. However, Americans are much more closely divided when forced to choose who should be in charge of setting the rules for fair sports participation.
In this survey, a slim plurality of adults (45%) say that “local school districts and sports associations should set the rules for fair sports participation, not the federal government,” while 42% say “the federal government should ban transgender girls from playing girls’ sports and force them to play on the boys’ team.”
Notably, among adults who personally know a transgender person, 58% say local school districts and sports associations should set the rules, not the federal government.
One of Trump’s recent executive orders, titled “Ending Radical Indoctrination in K-12 Schooling,” directs law enforcement to “file appropriate actions against K-12 teachers and school officials who violate the law” by “facilitating the social transition of a minor student,” which is defined to include acknowledging changes to a transgender student's name.
When asked about a proposal that would prosecute teachers who support transgender students, a strong majority of adults (61%) are opposed, while only 27% are supportive.
Trump also directed the Pentagon to reinstate a ban on transgender Americans serving in the military before the order was blocked by two federal judges.
A majority of adults (55%) support allowing transgender people who meet eligibility standards to serve in the military, while 34% are opposed.
Targeting transgender service members is especially unpopular. When Americans are presented with several statements related to transgender service members, more than 60% express agreement with statements that are favorable to transgender service members, and a majority express disagreement with those that are critical.
In response to Trump’s executive orders targeting diversity, equity, and inclusion and transgender inclusion across the federal government, LGBTQ+-inclusive language and information sources have been scrubbed from government materials and websites.
After being informed of this, Americans are largely opposed to examples of these actions.
Takeaways
These findings demonstrate that an overwhelming majority of transgender Americans have been negatively impacted by anti-LGBTQ+ policies and rhetoric. More than half of transgender adults say they have considered moving out of their community or state due to anti-LGBTQ+ legislation, and more than 1 in 4 have felt unsafe going to the doctor or hospital due to concerns about discrimination or mistreatment.
While U.S. adults overall are heavily split on issues impacting the transgender community, they largely believe that families and doctors, not the government, should be the ones making decisions about medical care for transgender youth. Similarly, a slight plurality of adults believe that local school districts and sports associations, not the federal government, should set rules about transgender athletes’ participation.
A majority of Americans are also opposed to the Trump administration’s actions as it relates to banning transgender people from the military, calling for teachers who support transgender students to be prosecuted, and removing LGBTQ+ health and nondiscrimination information from federal websites. In general, Americans who know a transgender person are significantly more supportive of policies to protect their rights.
Cover photo attributable to Aerra Carnicom.
