It’s a scene that’s becoming more common outside state capitol buildings across the country: Protesters outraged that lawmakers inside are moving to pass new laws that restrict transgender rights.
So far this year, there are 54 bills that restrict transgender rights approved in 18 statesaccording to the Monitoring of trans legislation.
Most of these bills limit gender-affirming care for transgender youth and restrict their participation in school activities, such as sports.
Despite the viral protest scenes, a novelty Scripps News/YouGov poll shows that Americans overwhelmingly support such laws.
The poll found that 44 percent of Americans support laws restricting transgender care for minors, compared to 34 percent against. It also showed that 75% of Republicans support more restrictive laws, as do 45% of independents. On the other hand, 60% of Democrats oppose it.
“They’re seeing people respond strongly to framing this to protect our children,” said Mike Ricci, a partner at Seven Letter Strategies and a former communications director for two politicians.
Policy strategists and activists say school closings during the pandemic got more parents involved in schools and local politics.
Then, in 2021, Republican Glenn Youngkin won the gubernatorial election in Virginia after campaigning heavily on parental involvement in school decisions.
SEE MORE: Scripps News poll: Americans overwhelmingly support restricting trans rights
Conservative activists call the Supreme Court ruling overturning Roe v. Wade 2022 also eliminated a traditional talking point used by Republican candidates to appeal to socially conservative voters, leading many candidates to talk about gender identity and so-called “woke culture.”
Conservative grassroots organizations like the American Principles Project are helping to boost candidates who support anti-trans laws.
“We bill ourselves as the NRA for families,” said Jon Schweppe, policy director of the American Principles Project. “We want to fight to make the family the most powerful special interest group in the country.”
The group spent more than $15 million in the 2022 campaign cycle on ads in battleground states. A sponsored group ad in Georgia proclaimed that “Joe Biden and the Democrats will teach critical race theory in our schools, put men in girls’ sports, and even push sex-change surgeries on children.”
Schweppe says the group’s biggest contribution in the election cycle “has been teaching these politicians how to fight this issue and win.”
According to our Scripps News/YouGov poll, most Americans support aa federal ban about transgender women competing in school athletics. That includes a majority of Republicans at 83%, a majority of independents at 58%, and 1 in 3 Democrats.
Now, some of the top Republicans eyeing the White House in 2024 are mounting campaigns built in part on anti-trans promises.
SEE MORE: Biden’s proposal would prohibit a blanket ban on trans athletes, with exceptions
Speaking at the conservative Heritage Foundation’s 50th anniversary leadership conference in April, Republican Florida Governor Ron Desantis said, “It’s wrong to teach a second grader that they may have been born with the wrong body. It’s wrong to teach students that gender is a choice.”
In January, former President Donald Trump posted a video on his social media platform Truth Social outlining his plan to “protect children from the gender insanity of the left.” If re-elected president, Trump said he would sign an executive order to withdraw Medicaid and Medicare reimbursement for any doctor’s office or hospital they provide attention to gender affirmation to minors.
Trump also stated that he would “ask Congress to pass a bill stating that the only genders recognized by the United States government are male and female and assigned at birth.”
Ricci says this issue will likely push Republican primary candidates further to the right.
“You’re going to continue to see it as a race for, you know, who’s fighting the awakening the most, who’s protecting our children the most,” he said.
Schweppe says conservative activists are ready to go all out for whichever candidate wins this race.
“If we get a candidate that supports where we stand on this, we intend to spend as much as we can in the general election in the swing states,” he said.
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