Slim majority of Americans say changing gender morally wrong: Gallup

A Gallup poll released Friday found that 51 percent of Americans say changing one’s gender is “morally wrong” and that a majority of Americans oppose bans on gender-reassignment care for minors.

According to a Gallup survey, vote A survey conducted in May shows contrasting views among the American public.

“Slightly less than half of Americans believe that changing one’s gender is morally wrong, but a majority also oppose laws that ban gender reassignment care, which helps minors align with their gender identity,” Gallup research consultant Megan Brennan said in an article about the poll. “This discrepancy may be because the question about gender reassignment care specifically mentions minors, whereas the question about the morality of changing one’s gender does not.”

“Furthermore, the relatively low support for bans on gender-affirming medical care may reflect Americans’ general aversion to bans, a trend that also echoes Gallup’s trends regarding smoking and handgun bans,” Brennan continued.

The poll found that 44% of Americans say changing gender is “morally acceptable.”

61% of those surveyed oppose laws that ban “psychological support, hormone treatments, and medical surgery to help transgender people align with their gender identity.”

62% would oppose a ban on medical treatment or procedures, including gender reassignment care, for minors.

The poll comes at a time when more than 90% of transgender teens live in states that have proposed or passed anti-transgender legislation, according to an April report from the Williams Institute at the University of California, Los Angeles. Right-wing attacks on transgender medical care have also increased after states such as Wyoming recently banned gender-affirming medical care for minors.

“For the second year in a row, hundreds of bills affecting transgender youth have been introduced in state legislatures,” Elana Redfield, federal policy director at the Williams Institute and lead author of the report, said in a press release. “Differences in the legal environment have created significant gaps in the rights and protections for transgender youth and their families across the country.”

The Gallup poll was conducted May 1-23 among 1,024 adults and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points at the 95 percent confidence level. The half-sample was 512 people, and the margin of error was plus or minus 6 percentage points.