(NewsNation) — More than half of Americans think it unethical for someone to change their gender, according to a Gallup poll released Friday, but also found that a majority oppose laws banning gender-affirming care for minors.
The poll, conducted in May, found that 51% of Americans say that a person changing their gender is “morally wrong,” while 44% of Americans say it’s “morally acceptable.”
Meanwhile, 61% of Americans oppose laws that would ban “psychological support, hormonal treatments and medical surgeries that help transgender individuals align with their gender identity.”
Sixty-two percent oppose bans on treatments and medical procedures for minors involving gender-affirming care.
“This discrepancy could be because the questions about gender-affirming care specifically mention minors, while the question about the morality of changing one’s gender does not,” said Megan Brenan, a research consultant for Gallup.
Brenan added that the low support could also be attributed to “Americans’ general distaste for bans, a pattern that can be seen in Gallup trends on banning cigarette smoking and handguns.”
The findings come as more than 90% of transgender teens live in states that have proposed or passed anti-transgender laws, according to an April report from the Williams Institute at the University of California, Los Angeles.
The poll was conducted between May 1 and 23, featuring 1,024 adults and a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 4% points at the 95% confidence level.