Americans Don't Want Transgender Bathroom Laws: Here's Proof

A majority of Americans were opposed to transgender bathroom bills as numerous state legislatures around the country weigh laws that would deny transgender people the right to use the bathroom pertaining to their gender identity, a poll released Friday by the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) showed.

The non-profit’s survey, which drew results from 2,031 adults between Feb. 10 and Feb. 19, showed 53 percent were against the bathroom bills compared to 39 percent who were for them.

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However, the results reflected a stark division along political party lines. Sixty-five percent of Democrats and 57 percent of independents were against the measures, while only 36 percent of Republicans shared the same view. In turn, 59 percent of Republicans were for enacting laws that would make transgender people use a bathroom based on their sex at birth.

The poll also found Americans against same-sex marriages don’t necessarily support laws that would allow businesses to deny service to gays and lesbians because of their religious beliefs.

"Opinions about same-sex marriage do not necessarily translate directly to the question of whether business owners should be allowed to refuse services to gay and lesbian people on religious grounds," PRRI CEO Robert P. Jones said in a statement. "For example, more than seven in ten black Protestants, who remain divided on the issue of same-sex marriage, oppose religious exemptions that would allow small businesses to refuse to serve gay and lesbian people."

Furthermore, there had been an increase in support towards same-sex marriage since 2015, according to PRRI. Now, 63 percent of Americans are for allowing gays and lesbians to wed, a major jump compared to 52 percent in 2013.

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Yet, many state legislatures around the country have legislation pending that would deny transgender people access to the bathroom of their choice. A Texas Senate committee Wednesday approved such a bill and it is scheduled to soon head to and pass in the state’s Republican-led Senate, Reuters reported.

At the start of the year, 14 states had introduced bathroom bills and 12 of those are still currently pending, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. The other two, in South Dakota and Virginia, each failed in January.

President Donald Trump, who last month rescinded former President Barack Obama’s protections for transgender students, said he believed the issue should be left up to the states instead of the federal government.