Americans oppose anti-transgender ‘bathroom bill’ laws, poll finds

FILE – This Thursday, May 12, 2016, file photo, shows signage outside a restroom at 21c Museum Hotel in Durham, N.C. North Carolina is in a legal battle over a state law that requires transgender people to use the public restroom matching the sex on their birth certificate. Some small business owners already working to make their companies more welcoming to LGBT employees say the massacre at a gay dance club in Orlando, Fla., gives them an impetus to make more changes. In this photo, the Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant bathroom sign was designed by artist Peregrine Honig. (AP Photo/Gerry Broome, File)

A new poll finds that most Americans oppose so-called “bathroom bills” that limit the rights of transgender people.

Fifty-three percent of the Americans surveyed oppose laws requiring transgender people to use bathrooms that match their gender at birth instead of their gender identity, according the poll, conducted by the nonpartisan group the Public Religion Research Institute.

Thirty-nine percent were in favor of such laws, while nearly one in ten of the 2,031 adults surveyed in February by telephone had no opinion, reports Reuters.

The issue breaks down along party lines, with most Democrats and independents opposing the laws and most Republicans favoring them.

Sixty-five percent of Democrats and 57 percent of independents voiced opposition to the anti-transgender laws, while 59 percent of Republicans support them, and thirty-six percent of Republicans opposing them.

“This is a case where it really is Republicans kind of pulling away and being more of an outlier to the rest of the country,” said Robert P. Jones, chief executive of the Washington-based group.

The survey comes as North Carolina continues to cling to their anti-LGBTQ law House Bill 2, which includes a provision requiring transgender people to use bathrooms matching the gender on their birth certificate when in government owned buildings.

Texas is currently deciding whether or not it will follow the same path.

The Trump administration also recently backed away from supporting transgender student rights concerning what facilities they are able to use in public schools.

The poll also found that support continues to grow for same-sex marriage, with 63 percent saying they are in favor, up from 52 percent in a 2013 poll.

White evangelicals are the only religious group still opposed to same-sex marriage, the poll found, according to Jones.

Bipartisan support was also found for laws prohibiting discrimination against LGBTQ people.

Source: Americans oppose anti-transgender ‘bathroom bill’ laws, poll finds