The Path Forward for Transgender Rights

Today, transgender Americans face a complex political landscape. On the one hand, much has been achieved in recent years. When I founded the National Center for Transgender Equality in 2003, it was somewhat inconceivable that a conservative Supreme Court justice would one day author an opinion upholding non-discrimination protections for transgender people, as happened in Bostock v. Clayton County.

Still, the community faces headwinds that make the progress achieved during prior presidential administrations seem like fleeting victories.

What we need is a twofold approach. First, to protect trans people, we must lock in and consolidate the progress that has been made. Second, we must continue to grow and expand the coalition of Americans who see dignity and equal protection for trans people as paramount.

New polling from the Searchlight Institute offers us both reason for optimism and a clear picture of the challenges ahead.

There is broad support for protecting trans people from discrimination in housing, access to credit, employment, and for ensuring that adults have access to the health care they need.

That said, Americans hold conservative attitudes where certain policies related to gender identity and transgender rights are concerned. Voters are especially focused on kids—from the bathrooms they use to the sports teams they may join, and access to hormone treatments and other forms of health care. These findings are revealing and without charting a new path forward, they are likely to hold for the foreseeable future.

We need to reset our approach to advocacy, public education, and policy development regarding the rights and acceptance of transgender Americans. This means shifting our primary focus to education while continuing to try to enshrine core civil rights protections into statute. On issues such as sports participation and kids’ access to health care, we should accept that we have more work to do to win hearts and minds, and focus on pursuing the smartest possible approach to bring more Americans over to our side.

Elected leaders and candidates should focus their efforts on how to protect and defend trans people, not using the issue for messaging purposes or purity tests. Instead of contemplating message bills, they should focus on keeping pernicious anti-trans policy riders out of must-pass legislation and building a broader coalition for locking in key non-discrimination protections.

This is the critical policy work for the near term. It will require discipline among advocates and allies, but it is how we build the foundation for a durable future where transgender Americans of every age can live and thrive.

The Searchlight Institute and Tavern Research conducted an online survey of 1,524 likely voters from February 18-19, 2026. The results were weighted by gender, race, education, age and 2024 vote choice. The margin of error is +/- 3.7% and is higher for subgroups. This follows our previous extensive research on the same topic, done over the course of a year, including multiple polls and focus groups.

I. Civil Rights

Fundamental civil rights protections for transgender people are incredibly popular. Voters across both parties express a consistent preference for equal treatment of transgender people in public life and the workplace. A majority (69%) think businesses and landlords should treat trans people equally, and 70% agree that people should be able to live their lives free from discrimination and bullying. These numbers include majorities of Republicans and Trump voters. Fully 59% support a federal law prohibiting landlords and businesses from discriminating against transgender Americans.

Voters generally understand discrimination protection to mean that trans people should be treated fairly in their workplaces and by landlords, but are more split on what those protections require from the general public. A majority (51%) of likely voters answer that safety can be ensured for trans people without acknowledging their gender identity. We split tested this question and found that a similar share (55%) say that equal treatment of transgender people does not include acknowledging their gender identity.

This is not to say that voters do not prioritize safety—64% say that ensuring the safety of trans children is very important to them. The vast majority (82%) agree that making fun of someone’s appearance is bullying, but there is less consensus about the use of someone’s preferred name and gender identity. These positions are highly sensitive to framing, with voters more likely to say that “refusing to use someone’s name” (57%) is bullying versus “using their birth name” (37%). Interpretations of what is required for safety or fair treatment vary, and it is not certain that a voter who believes strongly in non-discrimination will also support other policies.

• Anti-Discrimination: 69% of respondents believe businesses and landlords should be required to treat trans people equally.
• Personal Freedom: 70% agree that trans people should be able to live their lives free from discrimination and bullying.
• Safety: 64% say ensuring the safety of trans children is very important to them.

II. Youth Sports, Schools, and Parental Involvement

Americans are strongly in favor of parental controls and notification when it comes to children. A majority (50%) of voters, including a plurality of Independents (47%) and a majority of Republicans (66%), answer that parents should have “access to everything in the lives of their children.” When asked specifically if parents should have access to everything that is happening to their children in school, that number jumps to 70% of Americans overall, including majorities of Democrats (59%), Independents (68%), and Republicans (84%).

Additionally, 92% of Americans answer that it is important to ensure that parents are involved and have the most important say in decisions about their children. This survey found that voters are very opposed to schools withholding information about children, and 56% of voters think schools should inform parents if a child questions their gender identity.

A majority of Americans (59%), including a plurality of Democrats, believe that trans children should play on school sports teams that match their birth sex rather than their gender identity. A similar share (58%) believe that this expectation should also apply to trans adults who compete in college and professional sports. A majority (50%) feel strongly enough about transgender athletes that they think federal law should dictate which teams trans athletes can play on, rather than leaving the decisions to states, school districts, the NCAA, professional sports leagues, or schools themselves.

• Parental Rights in Schools: 70% of voters believe parents should have access to everything happening to their children at school, and 56% believe schools should inform parents if a child questions their gender identity.
• Bathroom Facilities: 59% believe K-12 students should use bathrooms matching their birth sex. When offered an alternative, 57% support gender-neutral or single-stall bathrooms for trans students.
• Athletics: 58% support policies requiring trans athletes to compete on teams matching their birth sex.

III. Medical Care and Transitions

Americans broadly support gender transition access for adults. A large majority (67%) of Americans, including 59% of Republicans, believe that adults should be able to access “gender transition care.” A nearly identical share (68%) say that adults should be able to access surgical care.

However, Americans broadly oppose gender transition access for minors. Voters do not support puberty blockers or hormone treatments being available to people under eighteen—61% say that these treatments should not be available, even with approval from the minor’s parents and doctors. This opinion is stable across partisanship, racial lines, and among those who know and don’t know trans people. Opinions on transition surgery are very similar, with only slightly more people saying that surgery should not be accessible to those under eighteen (74%).

• Adults: A large majority (67%) support access to hormone treatments for adults after physician consultation, and 68% support access to surgeries for adults following consultation.
• Minors: 61% believe puberty blockers and hormone treatments should not be available to those under eighteen. 74% believe gender transition surgeries should not be available to anyone under eighteen.

Recommendations for Policymakers

The terrain is not what we wish it was, but by acknowledging that reality head-on, we can make a plan to shift views and do the hard work of building a new consensus around policy priorities. This knowledge also enables us to narrow our focus on public education in the near term and organize advocates and allies around forging a durable path ahead. Key considerations for policymakers include:

• Avoid sweeping and symbolic legislative efforts that have no chance of becoming law. Efforts like enacting a federal ‘Transgender Bill of Rights’ in this moment may seem well-meaning, but in a political reality where legislation of that nature has no chance of becoming law at the federal level, it can be a distraction that hardens public opinion against transgender people.
• Focus on issues related to discrimination and respect. Our polling shows a continued and stable goodwill among Americans for preventing discrimination against trans people and keeping trans kids safe. Policymakers should frame these issues in a way that incorporates these bedrock principles. Additionally, emphasizing the importance of the role that parents or parental figures play is crucial.
• Emphasize the importance of parents’ roles in deciding what is best for transgender youth. Many on the right like to throw around the phrase “parents’ rights” as an empty slogan to try and push discriminatory policies against trans youth. Still, it is important to emphasize the critical role that parents play in decisions regarding their children.
• Respond to attacks with intention. The misinformation about transgender Americans is widespread. Policymakers should address these attacks head-on with facts while avoiding confusing jargon. This is particularly important for combatting efforts to restrict access to vital health care services. For instance, “gender affirming care” is a phrase that can conjure more questions than answers. It also misses an opportunity to share common language with the people we need to win over if instead we talked about health care for trans children or adults. Transgender people need access to health care like everyone else. Allies and advocates should fight bad policy actions in clear and accessible terms.
• Take concerns about fairness seriously. Sports participation is simply not a winning issue right now—even among left-leaning voters (only a third of Democrats think trans kids should play on sports teams matching their gender identity). Parents of kids in sports in particular highlight issues around fairness and safety. These concerns should be taken seriously and not dismissed as bigotry. Policymakers and advocates have an obligation to oppose nationwide sports bans as inappropriate federal overreach, but more public education is critical for these issues.