Most Americans believe transgender lawmakers should use the bathroom that corresponds with their biological sex, according to the latest survey from the Economist/YouGov.
The transgender bathroom debate has made headlines again after Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) proposed a measure stating that any “Member, Delegate, Resident Commissioner, officer, or employee of the House may not use a single-sex facility (including a restroom, changing room, or locker room) in the Capitol or House Office Buildings, other than those corresponding to the biological sex of such individual.” It comes in light of transgender Delaware Rep.-elect Sarah McBride (D) — a man who believes he is a woman — joining the House of Representatives in January 2025:
Most, 51 percent, said transgender members of the U.S. House should use the bathroom that corresponds with their “sex assigned at birth.” Only 19 percent believe they should use the bathroom that corresponds with their “current gender identity.” Another 12 percent said “either one,” and 17 percent remain unsure.
There is a gap in thinking, as only 37 percent of those ages 18-29 believe transgender members of Congress should use the bathroom based on their biological sex, “assigned at birth.” A majority of those ages 30-44 (57 percent), 45-64 (57 percent) and 65+ (51 percent), have that same thinking.
Most Republicans, 77 percent, agree, as do 50 percent of independents. Only 17 percent of independents believe they should use the bathroom based on their “current gender identity” alone. Democrat opinions vary across the board. More than a quarter, 27 percent, believe they should use the bathroom based on their biological sex, but 34 percent believe it should be based on their “current gender identity.” Another 22 percent said “either one,” and 17 percent remain unsure.
The survey was taken November 23-26, 2024, among 1,590 U.S. adults. It has a +/- 3.2 percent margin of error and comes as Mace continues to defend her bill.
“Forcing women to share private spaces with men is not dignity and not respect,” Mace told a reporter. “I’m absolutely going to stand in the way of anyone who thinks it’s ok for a man to be in our locker room and our changing rooms, in our dressing rooms and women’s bathrooms”:
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) is among those who oppose the measure, bizarrely asserting that keeping biological men out of single-sex spaces designated for women endangers her fellow ladies.
“What Nancy Mace and what Speaker Johnson are doing are endangering all women and girls,” she began.
“And what it inevitably results in are women and girls who are primed for assault because they want — because people are going to want to check their private parts in suspecting who is trans and who is this, and who’s doing what,” Ocasio-Cortez claimed.
“And so the idea that Nancy Mace wants little girls and women to drop trou in front of who — an investigator? Who would that be? In order, because she wants to suspect and point fingers at who she thinks is trans, is disgusting. It is disgusting,” she added:
Mace, however, has not backed down.
“We are going to die on this hill if that’s what it takes,” Mace said on Wednesday after continued backlash. “Women deserve better than this. #HoldTheLine”:
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