Nearly Half of Republicans Want Government Less Involved in Transgender People's Lives
Republicans think the government should actually regulate transgender people less, not more.In a new survey from Data for Progress, 58 percent of all voters were in agreement that "the government should be less involved in what transgender people are allowed to do, including the health care they can receive." This included a strong majority of independents and potentially a surprising plurality, 45 percent, of Republicans."Whether it's abortion or transgender rights, the majority of Americans and a significant number of Republicans believe that we have a right to decide what we do with our own bodies and personal lives without government interference," Danielle Deiseroth, the executive director at Data for Progress, told Newsweek. "Republicans often advocate for reducing the role of government when it comes to economics and education, but on issues related to transgender people, they want the opposite."Our polling suggests that a lot of Republicans disagree with this approach, even if they are not generally supportive of transgender rights, because they think the government should be less involved in regulating what people are allowed to do."Many Republican politicians and candidates in the last election cycle have made their stances on transgender policies clear, calling for transgender athletes to be excluded from sports as the gender they identify with, as well as for adding restrictions for those who would like to transition at a younger age.The question in the survey focused on general freedom from the government for transgender people, not about children's issues or government funding related to transgender health care, which Republicans are still likely to be against, said Robert Shapiro, a political science professor at Columbia University."There is no threat to life here as in the abortion issue," Shapiro told Newsweek.
