Let’s be absolutely clear: politicians have chosen to make transgender young people a political target, and they continue dragging these kids and their families into the political crossfire.
The fact that politicians continue trying to make transgender youth healthcare the center of our politics is something I have been criticizing for a long time. The public is far more complicated—and far less obsessed with this issue—than the politicians and activists pushing these attacks would have us believe.
What should matter is that transgender children and their families, working with qualified medical professionals, should be able to make deeply personal healthcare decisions without politicians inserting themselves into the examination room.
Yet some politicians continue to use transgender people as political targets, turning vulnerable young people into campaign talking points.
Enough is enough. Transgender people are members of our communities. They deserve dignity, privacy, healthcare, and the freedom to live their lives without politicians constantly telling them who they are allowed to be.
It is past time to stop using transgender people as political props and simply let this community live their lives.
And when we vote, we need to remember who stood up for these communities—and who chose to make them political targets. Show up. Vote. Make your voice heard.
Thank you for the reporting Erin. I have always known this tide would turn -- all moral panics, "great awakenings" do. The burned over ground is burned out. If this and last year is as high as it gets, I will be glad.
I noticed the same thing and as an old '60s generation guy, it made me smile - even as I was distressed by the no better than even split among younger folks.
Despite this poll, the attack ads against trans people will very likely continue. These right wingers have a visceral reaction to trans people that will overcome any logical thinking and prudent evidence. We have seen this constantly since this moral panic really got underway approximately in late 2022.
All your readers are grateful for your journalism, Erin and S. Baum, including articles such as this one.
This is encouraging. I think it's not nearly the level of acceptance we had a year ago, but at least the pendulum might be starting to move back.
One very interesting finding is that young people are more conservative on this issue than older people. I was just discussing young people with Numbers Ninja. It would not surprise me to see younger generations go very conservative as they age and fossilize. There seems to be a peak conservatism during the child-rearing periods of people's lives, after which they start to lighten up again. (And the polling results found exactly that - parents of children under 18 vs. parents with no children under 18.)
Politico’s Dasha Burns interviewed TX gubernatorial candidate Gina Hinojosa (a Democrat) the other day. The candidate appears to me to be doing a good job of putting the culture wars into perspective and thus gaining support from Republicans. Dasha pushed her on the transgender issues and she kept returning to the main issues that people are concerned about, which she said is not about people who are transgender. She said that in her conversations with people in the right, when she pointed out that these issues are being used to distract them from what they really care about, they conceded. She called the tactics “punching down,” so, without answering the questions outright, she did indicate that she’s not for anti-trans legislation. It was really a hopeful interview. At one point, she flat out said, “look…” and went on to describe what’s happening with the data centers, including that in the panhandle, where drought is a real issue, data centers would have priority over communities if there were a water shortage. She’s a good example of a candidate who is managing to navigate these issues when pressed by the media. I wonder when members of the press are going to move on?
This poll question is poorly written, where "oppose" means politicians should stay out of gender affirming care, and "favor" means politicians should ban it. I'm guessing many respondents didn't think deeply enough and their gut answered as if they were "favoring" care or "opposing" care. I don't think the poll is trustworthy
I dunno about that. The question starts "Do you favor or oppose lawmakers banning," which seems pretty non-ambiguous to me. I suppose it's always possible for people to misunderstand the plain intention of the question, but that's not the question's fault.
I don't understand why the 19th frames the sports part so negatively! Anyone remember Governor Newsom citing trans athletes being a 80/20 issue? That NY Times (of course) poll was 1.5 years of relentless attacks, ban bills and media obsession ago, and despite all that we're at %45 are more likely to vote for a candidate who supports a ban??? My god, that's a drop by nearly half, mostly prompted by a ragtag gang of trans media folks like Erin, grassroots organizers and WNBA stars...that's a fricking miracle.
Something looks odd to me in the crosstabs. If I’m reading this correctly, banning gender-affirming care for minors has a net favorability of zero (i.e. dead even) among all adults under 30, but then +4 among men under 30, and +1 among women under 30.
If you expect men and women to be about evenly represented in the poll, then you’d expect the average of +4 and +1 to be about +2.5. Instead the figure for all adults under 30 is more favorable to trans rights than either those for men under 30 or women under 30. How?
“polling continues to show that transgender issues have low salience among voters”
This really captures how we’re being used as scapegoats and distraction from real topics that impact Americans.
Let’s be absolutely clear: politicians have chosen to make transgender young people a political target, and they continue dragging these kids and their families into the political crossfire.
The fact that politicians continue trying to make transgender youth healthcare the center of our politics is something I have been criticizing for a long time. The public is far more complicated—and far less obsessed with this issue—than the politicians and activists pushing these attacks would have us believe.
What should matter is that transgender children and their families, working with qualified medical professionals, should be able to make deeply personal healthcare decisions without politicians inserting themselves into the examination room.
Yet some politicians continue to use transgender people as political targets, turning vulnerable young people into campaign talking points.
Enough is enough. Transgender people are members of our communities. They deserve dignity, privacy, healthcare, and the freedom to live their lives without politicians constantly telling them who they are allowed to be.
It is past time to stop using transgender people as political props and simply let this community live their lives.
And when we vote, we need to remember who stood up for these communities—and who chose to make them political targets. Show up. Vote. Make your voice heard.
Thank you for the reporting Erin. I have always known this tide would turn -- all moral panics, "great awakenings" do. The burned over ground is burned out. If this and last year is as high as it gets, I will be glad.
Fingers crossed!
Delving into the crosstabs, it's strange that support for bans seems to increase for younger ages.
Not sure what to make of that, it seems counterintuitive
Great news however!
I noticed the same thing and as an old '60s generation guy, it made me smile - even as I was distressed by the no better than even split among younger folks.
Despite this poll, the attack ads against trans people will very likely continue. These right wingers have a visceral reaction to trans people that will overcome any logical thinking and prudent evidence. We have seen this constantly since this moral panic really got underway approximately in late 2022.
All your readers are grateful for your journalism, Erin and S. Baum, including articles such as this one.
And yet, Democrats continue to capitulate- or, dare I say... 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦.
<sickos>Yes, Ha Ha Ha, YES!!</sickos>
Thanks, Erin.
I'm not surprised by this development. Americans are not as stupid as Trump and his lackeys think.
This is encouraging. I think it's not nearly the level of acceptance we had a year ago, but at least the pendulum might be starting to move back.
One very interesting finding is that young people are more conservative on this issue than older people. I was just discussing young people with Numbers Ninja. It would not surprise me to see younger generations go very conservative as they age and fossilize. There seems to be a peak conservatism during the child-rearing periods of people's lives, after which they start to lighten up again. (And the polling results found exactly that - parents of children under 18 vs. parents with no children under 18.)
This data is timely given our recent conversation!
Politico’s Dasha Burns interviewed TX gubernatorial candidate Gina Hinojosa (a Democrat) the other day. The candidate appears to me to be doing a good job of putting the culture wars into perspective and thus gaining support from Republicans. Dasha pushed her on the transgender issues and she kept returning to the main issues that people are concerned about, which she said is not about people who are transgender. She said that in her conversations with people in the right, when she pointed out that these issues are being used to distract them from what they really care about, they conceded. She called the tactics “punching down,” so, without answering the questions outright, she did indicate that she’s not for anti-trans legislation. It was really a hopeful interview. At one point, she flat out said, “look…” and went on to describe what’s happening with the data centers, including that in the panhandle, where drought is a real issue, data centers would have priority over communities if there were a water shortage. She’s a good example of a candidate who is managing to navigate these issues when pressed by the media. I wonder when members of the press are going to move on?
https://youtu.be/t4nFQ5rrF9U?is=ut-JmiWirG2GbtCk
This poll question is poorly written, where "oppose" means politicians should stay out of gender affirming care, and "favor" means politicians should ban it. I'm guessing many respondents didn't think deeply enough and their gut answered as if they were "favoring" care or "opposing" care. I don't think the poll is trustworthy
I dunno about that. The question starts "Do you favor or oppose lawmakers banning," which seems pretty non-ambiguous to me. I suppose it's always possible for people to misunderstand the plain intention of the question, but that's not the question's fault.
👍👏🏳️⚧️🩷
I don't understand why the 19th frames the sports part so negatively! Anyone remember Governor Newsom citing trans athletes being a 80/20 issue? That NY Times (of course) poll was 1.5 years of relentless attacks, ban bills and media obsession ago, and despite all that we're at %45 are more likely to vote for a candidate who supports a ban??? My god, that's a drop by nearly half, mostly prompted by a ragtag gang of trans media folks like Erin, grassroots organizers and WNBA stars...that's a fricking miracle.
Something looks odd to me in the crosstabs. If I’m reading this correctly, banning gender-affirming care for minors has a net favorability of zero (i.e. dead even) among all adults under 30, but then +4 among men under 30, and +1 among women under 30.
If you expect men and women to be about evenly represented in the poll, then you’d expect the average of +4 and +1 to be about +2.5. Instead the figure for all adults under 30 is more favorable to trans rights than either those for men under 30 or women under 30. How?
A very welcome ray of light!