A Rasmussen poll conducted in February found that 58 percent of likely voters support state bans on so-called gender transition surgery for children. Forty-six percent of those likely voters were strongly in favor of such bans, with just 34 percent opposed.
Only eight percent were uncertain about such bans.
When asked about banning the less-intrusive but still dangerous practice of using hormone replacement therapy on minors, 53 percent of likely voters favored such bans, with 39 percent strongly backing bans against hormone therapy for children. Thirty-five percent of respondents disapproved of bans against hormone replacement therapy for children.
Mark Mitchell, COO and head of polling for Rasmussen, said that the company initiated the poll as a response to certain states banning the controversial procedures for children.
“We’ve polled on these issues in the past, and we think it’s incredibly important because … the Overton Window is shifting in many regards, and so LGBT topics is something we’ve been keeping a very close eye on,” Mitchell said.
A breakdown by political party shows that Republicans are more likely to favor bans on sex-change operations, with 72 percent of GOP respondents favoring the bans. Democrats favored bans at 45 percent, while 61 percent of Independents favored them.
A party analysis regarding hormone replacement therapy shows that 63 percent of GOP respondents favored bans on giving children hormones opposite the gender they were born, while only 41 percent of Democrats and 54 percent of Independents supported such bans.
“The signal’s a lot stronger in the sex change question because we specifically called out … surgical intervention on minors,” Mitchell said. “Very clearly for transgenderism,” surgical intervention “feels a lot less reversible.”
Several states have already passed bills restricting “gender affirming” care to children. Just last week, South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem, a Republican, signed the “Help Not Harm Bill (H.B. 1080),” which will essentially ban healthcare providers in the state from using puberty blockers, hormone therapy, or surgery to treat children for so-called gender dysphoria, which until recently was classified as a mental illness. Now, though, in certain circles it is akin to heart disease or cancer, to be treated with aggressive, life-altering medical interventions.
The ACLU promised legal fights with all states who deny such care to children. In the case of South Dakota, they declared that the new law “won’t stop South Dakotans from being trans, but it will deny them critical support that helps struggling transgender youth grow up to become thriving transgender adults.”
“We will never stop fighting for the right of trans youth to get the love, support, and care that every young person deserves. As much as Governor Noem wants to force these young people to live a lie, we know they are strong enough to live their truth, and we will always fight for communities and policies that protect their freedom to do so,” the ACLU threatened.
On the other hand, Noem claimed that she signed the bill for South Dakota’s children: “South Dakota’s kids are our future. With this legislation, we are protecting kids from harmful, permanent medical procedures,” she said in a statement. “I will always stand up for the next generation of South Dakotans.”
Other states, including Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Tennessee, and Utah, have also passed bans on certain transgender therapies for children. Several more states are slated to take up similar legislation throughout 2023.
As always with polls, we are struck by certain things. In the case of this survey, we may be disheartened by the sheer number of likely voters who believe that these invasive and often irreversible medical treatments are actually a good thing for confused children.
But the poll also shows that at least for now some sanity continues to reign — although it’s not a slam-dunk that will continue into the future.
