Less than half of Democratic Party voters disapprove of schools counseling children about their gender identity behind parents’ backs, a new poll shows.
Only about 44% of Democrats said they are opposed to schools counseling children on their sexual orientation and gender identity without parental knowledge, according to a new poll by Rasmussen Reports.
The poll surveyed 1,116 people on May 24 and 25. The margin of error was plus-or-minus 3 percentage points.
Respondents were asked, “Should schools and teachers be allowed to counsel students on their sexual and gender identities without parental knowledge or consent?”
The majority of Americans, about 60%, stand against schools counseling children on their sexual orientation and gender identity without parental knowledge.
A quarter of Americans said school staff should be able to counsel students on these issues without parental knowledge, and about 14% of people said they do not have an opinion on the issue.
Most Republicans, about 75%, said they opposed schools counseling students on these issues without parental knowledge.
Most independents also said they were opposed, about 64%.
More women expressed opposition, about 65%, to the idea of schools circumventing parents on sexual orientation and gender identity.
Only 55% of men said they would be opposed.
The poll also asked Americans if they agree that “there are only two genders, male and female.”
About 23% of people responded that they disagree with there being only two genders. Less than half of Democrats, 47%, said they agree that there are only two genders. About 64% of black respondents said they agree there are only two genders, while 55% of white respondents said they agree.
The poll also found that 62% of Americans approve of state laws banning gender surgeries for minors such as double mastectomies to remove breasts and genital surgeries in an attempt to achieve the appearance of the opposite gender.
More than 17,000 schools across the country have rules saying school staff can or should hide a student’s gender identity from parents, according to a list compiled by Parents Defending Education.
Some of the larger districts on the list are Chicago Public Schools, Los Angeles Unified School District, D.C. Public Schools, Baltimore City Public Schools, San Francisco Unified School District, Portland Public Schools, and Seattle Public Schools.
Parents in several states have filed lawsuits against their children’s schools for allegedly keeping them in the dark about their child’s new gender identity.
In Florida, a mother and father sued the Leon County school board in Tallahassee after they allegedly discovered that their 13-year-old daughter’s middle school had secretly met with the child and developed a plan to recognize her new gender identity.
In Massachusetts, parents sued their two children’s middle school for allegedly hiding both the siblings’ gender transitions from their parents. A federal judge, an Obama appointee, threw out the lawsuit, saying the school officials’ actions do not “shock the conscience.”
Some states including Florida, Iowa, and North Dakota have passed laws requiring schools to inform parents if their child asks to identify as a new gender other than their biological one.
An estimated 300,000 minors aged 13 to 17 identified as transgender as of last year.