Report: Americans Believe in the Right to Choose Personal Pronouns

The March 2023 Daily Kos/Civiqs Poll asked 1,212 registered voters in the United States about gender identity, transgender rights, education, and access to medical care and support.

Gender Identity and Bodily Autonomy

A broad majority of Americans (59%) believe that everyone has the right to use the gender pronouns that match their personal identity. Another 32% disagree, and 9% are unsure. Support for freedom to use preferred gender pronouns is highest in urban areas (64%), but agreement extends to majorities of Americans in suburban (59%), and rural (55%) communities as well.

Americans firmly support the principle of bodily autonomy for all adults. Fully 74% of Americans agree with a statement that “Adults should always hold the ultimate authority over their own medical decisions for their own bodies.” Only 2% disagree. Another 23% of Americans do not disagree, but say that “it depends on the situation.” This statement of individual bodily autonomy receives support across the political spectrum, including 84% of Democrats, 75% of Independents, and 62% of Republicans.

Transgender Health Care

By an overwhelming margin, Americans do not believe that doctors should face the threat of legal consequences for answering patients’ questions about transgender health concerns. There is a near consensus (84%) that doctors should be allowed to freely answer questions about transgender health issues from their patients. Even among Republicans, 74% want doctors to be able to answer questions from their patients without the threat of legal consequences.

Consistent with the recommendations of the American Medical Association, 49% of Americans think that physicians should be allowed to provide health care to transgender youth that recognizes and supports their gender identity. This includes 61% of urban voters, 47% of suburban voters, and 44% of rural voters. Another 39% of American voters do not think doctors should be allowed to do so, and 12% remain unsure.

A plurality of Americans (49%) believe that parents of children who identify as transgender should have the freedom to make healthcare decisions for their kids that they think are best. Only one quarter of Americans (26%) think there should be government limits on the type of treatments that doctors are allowed to provide to transgender youth. Another one in four (24%) support neither idea, or remain unsure.

Gender Identity in Schools

Americans want teachers to be allowed to answer questions from students about gay and transgender issues, by a 50% to 41% margin. Support is highest in urban areas (61%) and among Americans with the highest level of formal education (58%). Young Independent voters aged 18-34 are also strongly in support (58%) of giving teachers the freedom to speak to students about gay and transgender issues.

A similar 48% of voters believe that classrooms and libraries in their local schools should contain books with characters who are gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender, with another 8% who want to see fewer of those books in classrooms. Just under four in ten (39%) do not think those books should be available.

Support for public libraries containing books with information about LGBTQ+ people and history is much higher. Three in four Americans (74%) believe that the public libraries in their area should contain such books, including 90% of Democrats, 74% of Independents, and 53% of Republicans. Only 18% are opposed.

Most Americans (56%) believe that teachers should be required to tell students' parents if their child is using a different gender identity at school. Another 15% believe that teachers should be allowed to let the student’s gender identity remain at school, and 26% say it depends on the situation.

Civiqs surveyed 1,212 registered voters in the United States from March 11-14, 2023. The survey was conducted online, among selected members of the Civiqs research panel. Sampled individuals were emailed by Civiqs and responded using a personalized link to the survey at civiqs.com. The survey results are weighted by age, race, gender, education, party identification, and region to be representative of the population of registered voters in the United States. The general design effect due to weighting is 1.09. The survey has a margin of error of ±2.9% at the 95% confidence level, accounting for the design effect.