How to report on polls about trans issues

Newsletter contents

• What polling can and can't tell us
• Resources for spotting misinformation
• What we're reading

What polling can and can't tell us

The U.S. election season brings with it lots of new public polling data — and lots of news stories about it.

Polls can help quantify how communities feel about topics like trans-inclusive school policies and gender care for minors, and they can shed light on broader LGBTQ+ acceptance. But as with anything, journalists must report on poll results with accuracy and caution, remaining mindful of polling's limitations.

Before we get into that, though, a crucial caveat: Public opinion doesn't – and shouldn't – dictate human rights.

The U.S. public has frequently professed regressive ideas in polls, from broad support for the incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II to negative sentiments toward interracial marriage and desegregating neighborhoods to the notion that AIDS was divine punishment for homosexuality. When reporting on polls that ask about divisive social issues, consider that history – especially when those issues involve a minority group's ability to participate fully in public life.

Finally, p0lling doesn't determine whether someone or something exists. As many as 40% of Americans, by some metrics, do not believe human activity is contributing to climate change. Yet journalists can and must cover climate change all the same.

That in mind, here's what the polls say on trans communities:

• "Most Americans would prefer politicians to protect trans people or not focus on trans issues — rather than restrict care."

The State of Our Nation

The second annual poll from The 19th and SurveyMonkey sheds light on what women, particularly women of color, and LGBTQ+ people think about the issues animating our politics.

The 19thTasmiha Khan, The Emancipator

• "The vast majority of Americans — 7 in 10 — think that politicians are not informed enough about abortion and gender-affirming care to create fair policies."

Americans don’t trust politicians on abortion and gender-affirming care, poll finds

Restricting access to both has been a GOP focus, but a new 19th News/SurveyMonkey poll shows sizable majorities of both parties don’t think politicians are informed enough to make fair policies.

The 19thAmanda Becker, Mel Leonor Barclay

• "There is no broad consensus in the U.S. when it comes to policies that affect transgender people. No more than six in 10 Americans line up on the same side of any of 40 policies that either expand or restrict rights and protection for transgender people."

Where Americans stand on 20 transgender policy issues | YouGov

Majorities agree with existing protections in the U.S. for transgender people against hate crimes and discriminatory firings, but transgender inclusion in athletics, prisons, and public bathrooms all receive more opposition than support.

YouGovTaylor Orth

• "The national polling data, shared exclusively with The 19th, suggests that GOP voters are not nearly as supportive of anti-trans bills being pushed by Republican state lawmakers across the country as some Republican politicians may want to believe."

Republicans split on whether the government should block crucial gender-affirming care, poll shows

The survey results carry special significance for transgender conservatives, who are speaking out against legislation that has targeted trans youths.

The 19thOrion Rummler

• "A majority of Americans oppose restrictions on LGBTQ+ people, yet the latest PBS NewsHour/NPR/Marist poll shows support for such laws is growing as many Republican state and local lawmakers pursue hundreds of bills targeting LGBTQ+ rights around the country."

Majority of Americans reject anti-trans bills, but support for this restriction is rising

Forty-three percent of Americans now say they support laws that criminalize the act of providing gender-transition-related medical care to minors, according to the latest PBS NewsHour/NPR/Marist poll, marking a 15-percentage point increase in less than two years.

PBS NewsLaura Santhanam

• "A steady 51% of Americans think changing one’s gender is morally wrong, while 44% say it is morally acceptable, which is generally in line with readings in 2021 and 2023. At the same time, more than six in 10 U.S. adults oppose laws banning gender-affirming care for minors."

Slim Majority of U.S. Adults Still Say Changing Gender Is Morally Wrong

A slim majority of U.S. adults say changing one’s gender is morally wrong, but only about a third favor laws banning gender-affirming care for minors.

GallupMegan Brenan

Other resources for reporting on polls

• How To Read Polls In 2020 from FiveThirtyEight
• What Makes A Good Pollster? l Polling 101 From FiveThirtyEight on YouTube
• 5 tips for writing about polls from Pew Research Center
• 5 tips to help journalists spot question order bias in polls, surveys from The Journalist's Resource
• LGBTQ+ Rights from Gallup Historical Trends
• How to tell good LGBTQ+ stories with bad data from Source

Resources for spotting misinformation

• Largest survey of trans people shows satisfaction with choices despite sharp disparities from the Association of Health Care Journalists
• Brain imaging study in children shows sex and gender operate in different networks of the brain from Science
• The Cass Review Into Gender Identity Services For Children - The Conclusion from Gideon M-K: Health Nerd
• What Does the Research Say About Top Surgery for Trans Youth? from Assigned Media
• The history of left-handedness from Datawrapper
• Report Addresses Key Issues in Legal Battles over Gender-Affirming Health Care from Yale Law School [PDF report]

What We're Reading

Articles

Black transgender pastor builds community in Sacramento while searching for a place of worship from the San Francisco Chronicle

A Forgotten Athlete, a Nazi Official, and the Origins of Sex Testing at the Olympics

In 1936, the Czech track star Zdeněk Koubek became world-famous after undergoing surgery so that he could live openly as a man.

The New YorkerCondé Nast

‘We’ve created medical refugees.’ LGBTQ+ healthcare workers fight for gender-affirming care amid rise in anti-trans laws

The fate of trans healthcare lies in the outcome of a presidential election and next summer’s Supreme Court ruling. But these LGBTQ+ healthcare workers are determined to provide gender-affirming care.

Los Angeles TimesJireh Deng

Republicans are quietly pushing to defund transgender healthcare even for adults

For a year and a half, GOP lawmakers have been stealthily adding amendements to government appropriations bills, which are key to funding major government departments, to ban any federal money being used for gender transition procedures. This will dramatically curtail trans people’s access to medical care — just like the Hyde Amendment restricted abortion access, write Io Dodds and Eric Garcia.

The IndependentIo Dodds

Florida is quietly denying transgender residents updated birth certificates

The rejection comes without public notice or new law — even when all other government-issued identification reflects their current gender identity.

The 19thOrion Rummler

From Every Crack

On Trans History, Censorship, Urgency

Valley of the DMorgan

Beyond Trans Archives, Beyond Trans Medicine

“Where does such profound love, overflowing with significance, appear in formalized, statistical data indexing and what people’s post-treatment liv…

Logic(s) Magazine

Trans Woman Launches Hunger Strike After Washington State Moved Her to Men’s Prison

Monday is the 17th day of Kim’s hunger strike, and she said she won’t eat until she’s returned.

The StrangerVivian McCall

A Notorious Type of Legislation Is Back With a Vengeance

Where’s the outrage this time?

SlateNico Lang

‘Nothing short of torture’: City of Lorain moves forward a ban on conversion therapy on minors, with pause

Lorain City Council considered an ordinance banning conversion therapy on minors, though some members had questions.

The Buckeye FlameBen Jodway

Multimedia

TESTED – A surprising history of women’s sports

Turning Debate Anxiety Into Action w. Tre’vell Anderson | Crooked Media

Crooked Media

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