More voters say transgender people ought to be allowed to choose which public restroom they use than those who think there ought to be a law against it — but a plurality want the U.S. and state government to butt out of the issue, an
NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll finds.
According to the survey:
- 40 percent of voters favor letting transgender people choose which facility to use,
- 31 percent say they should be legally prevented from doing so, and
- 29 percent had no opinion.
But the poll found 49 percent of voters oppose the
Department of Justice intervening in a North Carolina state law that prohibits transgender people from picking their bathroom; only 28 percent support the federal move.
Similarly,
- 38 percent say state governments shouldn't pass any transgender bathroom laws;
- 19 percent want laws on the books allowing the choice, and
- 22 percent say there should be laws against it.
In other findings:
- Nationwide, 39 percent of voters say they know or work with someone who is transgender; 59 percent say they don't – a 10 point increase from last year, when 29 percent said they know someone who is transgender, while 69 percent didn't.
- 53 percent of young voters side with transgender people on the bathroom choice issue; only a third of seniors agree.
- 72 percent of liberals support the notion of bathroom choice for transgender people compared with 41 percent of moderates and 12 percent of self-described conservatives.
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