by TJ Martinell
Most registered voters, 59 percent, support a federal ban on transgender procedures such as puberty blockers and gender reassignment surgeries for minors, a new national poll found.
The strongest support for a federal ban came from registered Republicans (82 percent), while the lowest amount of support for it came from registered Democrats (36 percent). Independents polled offered majority support for a ban, with 56 percent in favor.
The Center Square Voters’ Voice Poll was conducted by Noble Predictive Insights between Oct. 2-4 and surveyed 2,560 registered voters. The margin of error for the aggregate sample was ±2.1 percent.
According to the poll, although both sexes favored a federal ban on transgender procedures for minors, men were more likely to favor it, with 63 percent in favor compared to 56 percent for women. Among the ethnicities polled, “others” favored a ban the most at 63 percent compared to 61 percent for Whites. Of Black registered voters polled, 46 percent favored a ban, while 32 percent were opposed and 22 percent were not sure.
Among age demographics, the categories most in favor of a federal ban were 45-54 and 54-65, both of which polled at 61 percent, while 18-34 were the least in favor, albeit still at a 52 percent majority of them still supporting banning the procedures for minors.
Although voters with and without college degrees both favored a federal ban by more than 50 percent, those without degrees favored it more at 61 percent, while 55 percent of voters with a college degree supported a ban.
Voters with children supported a ban more than those without, at 61 percent to 52 percent respectively.
Geographically, rural voters favored a ban more than suburban or urban voters, at 64 percent compared to 57 percent and 58 percent respectively.
Regionally, the Northeast was least supportive of a federal ban, with 51 percent in favor. The South was the most supportive at 61 percent, while the Midwest favored it at 60 percent. Voters in the West favored a ban by 59 percent.
Transgender procedures on minors are now banned in 25 states, including states such as Ohio which, according to data from the nonprofit Do No Harm, was one of the top in the nation for procedures and procedures per capita. According to Do No Harm’s data, released last week, at least 13,994 transgender procedures were performed on minors across the U.S. between 2019-2023, The Center Square reported.
Do No Harm is a nonprofit group of physicians and other medical professionals that gets its name from the Hippocratic oath: “First, do no harm.” According to its website, Do No Harm is “fighting to curtail the unscientific and individually harmful practice of so-called ‘gender affirming care'” for children.
In an email to The Center Square, David Byler with Noble Predictive Insights, wrote that “on many issues surrounding trans rights and students or youth, the GOP has public opinion on their side. There’s a reason that, when you look at GOP ads, they are constantly hammering this and other related issues. And some prominent Democrats are pushing out moderate, rather than left, messages.”
He added that “Republicans know that trans issues are a strong social issue for them – and after getting hit hard on abortion so many times since Dobbs, they want to make sure they’re pushing back and finding social issues that work for them.”
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TJ Martinell is a staff reporter at The Center Square.
