Vast majority of Americans want to outlaw child sex changes

FIRST ON THE DAILY SIGNAL—Almost three-fourths of voters say it should be illegal to subject children to transgender medical interventions, according to a new poll from Napolitan News Service.

The percentage of voters surveyed who oppose child sex changes—which include so-called puberty blockers, hormone regimens, and irreversible surgeries—increased by 10 points since August.

The majority of those in both major political parties say they oppose allowing minors to attempt to change their gender, the poll found. The 72% of Americans who oppose child gender transitions includes 86% of Republicans and 58% of Democrats.

This survey of 1,000 registered voters was conducted online Wednesday by veteran pollster Scott Rasmussen, president of RMG Research Inc. The margin of sampling error is plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.

Rasmussen’s survey comes after an election in which transgenderism was a key issue for many Americans.

Voters said one top reason they didn’t vote for Vice President Kamala Harris was that she was “too focused on cultural issues rather than helping the middle class,” according to polling from Democratic research group Blueprint.

According to Napolitan News Service, 68% of voters surveyed said they think public schools shouldn’t teach lessons on radical gender ideology. Less than 20% said they think lessons about changing genders should be taught in schools.

At Newton Public Schools in Massachusetts, parents can’t opt their kids out of “sexuality” and “gender identity” lessons that begin in kindergarten, The Daily Signal reported.

“While parents/guardians/caregivers may opt out of the health curriculum specifically related to sexual
reproduction, our commitment to gender and sexuality education remains firm,” the Newton school system’s guidelines document says. “Our curriculum aligns with state guidelines to promote understanding and inclusion of diverse identities and orientations.”

If a student wants to change his name, gender, and pronouns, 73% of voters surveyed by Rasmussen said, they believe the student’s parents should be notified. California passed a law over the summer banning schools from requiring teachers to notify parents if their child wants to transition.

If, after being notified, parents don’t support their child’s changing his or her name, pronouns, and gender at school, almost 70% of voters said teachers should respect parents’ wishes.

Throughout the 2024 election season, Republicans slammed Democrats’ support for transgenderism, and several Democrats flip-flopped on or scaled back their stances.

For instance, Rep. Vicente Gonzalez Jr., D-Texas, released an ad saying he “never supported sex changes” after an ad campaign by the National Republican Congressional Committee slammed him for effectively supporting “sex changes for kids.”

In 2021, Gonzalez voted for the Equality Act, which would have allowed children to be taken away from their parents if the parents didn’t support them in identifying as another gender.

Although Harris dodged questions of whether she supports so-called gender-affirming care for kids, President-elect Donald Trump has promised to ban such treatments for children without parental consent.

Shortly before the election, The Daily Signal asked Trump’s running mate, Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, whether a Trump-Vance administration would ban “puberty blockers,” hormone treatments, and irreversible surgeries for minors in all cases, regardless of parental involvement.

“I think sex changes for minors, permanently altering, either chemically or surgically, the body of young child, is crazy,” Vance, now the Republican vice president-elect, said. “I can’t believe that we do this. I really can’t.”

In a 2023 video, Trump promised to “pass a law prohibiting child sexual mutilation in all 50 states.”

“The left-wing gender insanity being pushed at our children is an act of child abuse,” Trump said. “Very simple. Here’s my plan to stop the chemical, physical, and emotional mutilation of our youth.”