Our Strong And Week Points

Polls can be a good thing, they can show where we need to concentrate our efforts…

Majority of Americans support trans troops, oppose trans athletes, Gallup finds
Advocates say the contrast is at least in part due to the wave of state legislation aimed at restricting trans student-athlete participation.
NBC News
By Jo Yurcaba
May 26, 2021


The majority of Americans support allowing openly transgender people to serve in the military but oppose permitting them to play on sports teams that align with their gender identity, according to new Gallup data.

The annual Values and Beliefs survey — conducted May 3-18 by telephone interviews with 1,016 randomly selected adults living in the U.S. — found that 66 percent of people favor allowing openly trans people to serve in the military, though Gallup noted that this figure is down slightly from its previous measure in 2019, when 71 percent were in favor.

At the same time, 62 percent of Americans say trans athletes should only be allowed to play on sports teams that correspond with the sex they were assigned at birth, while 34 percent say they should be able to play on teams that match their gender identity.

The contrast — one in support of trans people’s participation and the other against — is at least in part due to the wave of state legislation seeking to bar trans students from competing on school sports teams that align with their gender identity, said Mara Keisling, executive director of the National Center for Transgender Equality.

“What people are reacting to here is just an absolute barrage orchestrated by the extremist anti-LGBT groups — the same ones who, in 2004, caused there to be a bunch of marriage equality losses around the states,” Keisling said.

They are reacting to the wave of lies and hate coming out of the Republicans.

Keisling said state legislators who have introduced measures to ban trans girls and women from competing on girls and women’s sports teams “have done a great job of framing the conversation.” The proposals target middle school, high school and college athletes, but when most people are asked about trans athlete participation, they think of elite or professional athletes, she said.

So far, governors in eight states have signed laws or executive orders restricting trans student athlete participation — seven of them in 2021.

That is what we have to do is re-frame the question, we need to educate the public. We now know where are weak points are and need to concentrate on educating the public.

Accord to the Gallup poll we do have some strong areas.

Mixed Views Among Americans on Transgender Issues
Gallup News
By Justin McCarthy
May 26, 2021


While Americans maintain their support for transgender military service, a majority believe birth gender, rather than gender identity, should govern participation in competitive sports.

Some of the findings… women and young adults support us in the military, men to a much lesser extent. The bad news, it dropped from 2019.

Democrats (87%) remain about twice as likely as Republicans (43%) to favor allowing openly transgender service members in the military; both groups are essentially unchanged from the 2019 poll. Political independents, meanwhile, have become less supportive than they were in 2019 -- down 12 percentage points. Still, two in three self-identifying independents favor allowing openly trans people to serve.
[…]
Support for transgender Americans' right to serve in the military is down at least slightly among all age and gender groups, though all groups maintain majority levels of support. Adults younger than 50 remain more in favor than adults aged 50 and older, and women remain more in favor than men.

The majority by a large percentage do not support trans athletes and it is across the board, all age groups, all genders, and both political parties lack support for us in sports.

We need to concentrate our education here.

The somewhat good news is that young adults support us but it is split right down the middle, 50-50. The thirty something and above hate our guts, but the majority of those younger than 30 are more likely to know a trans person.

Views on transgender athlete policies and right to serve openly in the military are slightly influenced by whether respondents personally know a transgender person. This is similar to what Gallup has found in the past about Americans who personally knew a gay person and their views on gay issues.

Those who know someone who is trans (40%) are more likely to say trans athletes should be able to play on a team of their gender identity than are people who do not know someone who is transgender (31%). Similarly, those who have a transgender person in their life (74%) are more supportive of transgender people's right to openly serve in the military than are those who do not know someone who is trans (62%).

Harvey Milk was right…

Gay brothers and sisters … You must come out. Come out… to your parents… I know that it is hard and will hurt them but think about how they will hurt you in the voting booth.

So what it all boils down to is...

On one hand, strong majorities of Americans have supported transgender people's right to openly serve in the military. Viewed alongside support for allowing openly gay and lesbian people to serve in the "don't ask, don't tell" era, it's fair to say that most Americans believe that people who want to defend and fight for the U.S. should be allowed to, regardless of their identity.

On the other hand, the increasing rate of trans-identification among U.S. youth is challenging norms in ways that many Americans are not ready to question. Americans were split in separate polls taken in 2016 and 2017 on restroom policies for transgender people. With policies for interscholastic sports teams now gaining traction in state legislatures, the public leans against allowing these athletes to join teams of their gender identity. This opposition, juxtaposed against public support for transgender military service, suggests transgender sports participation may be seen as more of an issue of competitive fairness than of civil rights.

This political issue is fairly new to most Americans, though, and the public has changed its mind on LGBT issues in recent memory. So, while there is currently considerable resistance to letting athletes play on teams according to their gender identity rather than their birth gender, it's possible that Americans may view the issue differently down the line. However, changes in views on LGBT issues are often driven by generational change, and at the moment, young Americans hold views similar to their elders'.

Come out, come out wherever you are! (But not if you are not safe.)

Visibility and education are the keys!

Education!

Education!

Education!