Sixty-nine percent of Americans now believe that transgender athletes should only be allowed to compete on teams that align with their biological gender, a 7 percentage point increase from two years ago, according to a new Gallup poll.
According to the poll, conducted last month, the percentage of Americans who support transgender athletes playing on teams that match their gender identity has fallen since May 2021 from 34 percent to 26 percent, an 8 percentage point decrease.
Fifty-five percent of Americans also said it is morally wrong to change one's gender, up 4 points from two years ago. Americans' increasing resistance to transgenderism comes even as more of them now say they know someone who is transgender, the poll found.
The poll comes amid widespread controversy over transgender participation in competitive sports, particularly regarding biological men playing on women's teams. Elected officials in at least 20 U.S. states have passed laws prohibiting biological males from competing against females. The Republican-led House recently passed a national ban, although its passage in the Senate is unlikely, and President Joe Biden has promised to veto it. In April, the Biden administration proposed guidelines that would forbid public schools from issuing blanket bans on transgender participation in sports.