People are falling for ‘transgender bathroom’ scare stories, poll finds
A plurality of people in the US now support laws that would ban transgender women from using female toilets.
Hardline Republicans are using trans bathroom rights as a ‘wedge issue’ to attack LGBT rights across the US, with a number of ‘bathroom bills’ aiming to stop trans people from using their preferred toilet.
Despite the media focus on the bathroom aspects, the majority of the bills also conveniently contain provisions to block LGBT rights protections, allowing people to discriminate on the grounds of religion. Lawmakers in North Carolina and Mississippi both used ‘bathroom’ issues to push through broad anti-LGBT legislation.
Republicans have also been accused of working alongside anti-LGBT extremists to push through the issue, with one vile ad even depicting a man raping a little girl in a toilet. Rape, unsurprisingly, is a crime in all 50 states.
But months of propaganda and fearmongering appears to be paying off, according to a new poll from YouGov.
The pollster found that a plurality of Americans (39%) now favour a law that would ban trans people from using their preferred bathroom, compared to 34% who oppose it – with the remainder undecided.
Unsurprisingly a majority of Republicans support a bathroom ban, with 55% of the GOP faithful backing the issue, but it has also picked up steam with Democratic voters – 27% of whom also back a ban.
However, the divide narrows when people are asked to pick which bathroom trans people should use, rather than just attempting to ban them for one.
37% of people say trans people should only use the bathroom of their birth gender – while an equal 37% say they should be able to use the bathroom of their current gender.
Why is America so angry about transgender people going to the toilet? A political science professor explains the truths behind the topic.
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