A third of Democrats don’t buy the woke idea that sex and gender are separate things, and a large majority of Americans don’t want young kids taught about sexual identity and sexual behavior, an exclusive new poll conducted for The Daily Wire shows.
The poll comes amid a widening cultural divide between Americans who believe biological sex and gender are the same and others who claim gender is a construct and how people identify is up to them. The poll was conducted in April by McLaughlin & Associates/Summit.org.
“I believe [transgenderism] is a healthy human condition that should be celebrated,” was one question posed in the poll. Some 32% answered yes, while 56% said no and the rest either declined to answer or said they didn’t know.
A slight majority of women, 51%, say transgenderism is not healthy, as well as majorities of independents, moderates, and people under 55. Not even a majority of Biden voters, only 49%, were willing to say transgenderism is healthy.
Officially, the Democratic Party has embraced a progressive gender ideology that holds that someone’s biological sex, the one on their birth certificate, can be different from their gender identity, or what they feel like inside. But a majority of those surveyed, 53%, said they don’t think biological sex is separate from gender. That majority includes a majority of independents, 53%, half of moderates, and 46% of black Americans, who are a key voting bloc for Democrats.
An even bigger majority, about two-thirds of people, said it is either inappropriate or dangerous for schools to teach elementary school-age children about sexual identity and sexual behavior, according to the poll. More than a fourth of people, 28%, said this type of instruction is dangerous because it could lead to sexual grooming.
Liberals were the only group polled of which a majority, 54%, said they think school lessons about sexual identity and behavior are appropriate. Neither Democrats, Biden voters, blacks Americans, women, moderates, or independents had a majority in support of schools teaching that material.
The numbers become even more stark around minors and permanent gender alteration, such as genital surgery.
Only 9% of Americans think minors should be encouraged to undergo permanent gender alteration, according to the poll. A large majority, 78%, say children should wait until they are legal adults to make those decisions. The issue garnered the most support among liberals, and even that group only mustered a paltry 21% support.
Huge majorities of every group say medical professionals should be legally required to disclose the long-term medical and psychological effects of permanent gender alteration procedures, the poll found.
Despite Democratic voters’ tepid support for the progressive line on sex and gender, the Biden administration has made it very clear it is full steam ahead on some of the most progressive proposals.
Last month, the Department of Health and Human Services put out multiple documents strongly endorsing medical gender transitions for minors. That includes surgery for adolescents to change their genitals and other physical characteristics and cross-sex hormone therapy for younger children.
On the other side, Florida’s recent parental rights bill is one of the biggest legal results of a groundswell of parents who are against gender ideology being pushed on their children at school. The Florida bill prohibits classroom instruction on sexual orientation or gender identity for kindergarten through third grade, or in a way that is not age appropriate or developmentally appropriate.