Skip to content

Republish This Story

* Please read before republishing *

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free under an Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives Creative Commons license as long as you follow our republishing guidelines, which require that you credit The 19th and retain our pixel. See our full guidelines for more information.

To republish, simply copy the HTML at right, which includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to The 19th. Have questions? Please email [email protected].

— The Editors

Loading...

Modal Gallery

/

Menu

  • Our Mission
  • Our Team
  • Latest Stories
  • Upcoming Events
  • Contact Us
  • Newsletter
  • Donate
  • Work With Us
  • Fellowships
    • From the Collection

      Changing Child Care

      Illustration of a woman feeding a baby a bottle
      • As climate change worsens hurricane season in Louisiana, doulas are ensuring parents can safely feed their babies

        Jessica Kutz · May 5
      • Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito argued abortion isn’t an economic issue. But is that true?

        Chabeli Carrazana · May 4
      • Pregnant people are at 'greater risk' in states hit hard by wildfire smoke, air pollution, new report shows

        Jessica Kutz · April 20
    • From the Collection

      Next-Gen GOP

      Illustration of a woman riding an elephant
      • A banner year for Republican women

        Amanda Becker · November 11
      • Republican women could double representation in the U.S. House

        Amanda Becker · November 4
      • U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik wants to elect more Republican women into office

        Barbara Rodriguez · August 13
    • From the Collection

      On The Rise

      Illustration of three women marching
      • Jessica Cisneros takes on the last anti-abortion U.S. House Democrat

        Amanda Becker · February 25
      • Meet J. Michelle Childs, South Carolina judge and possible Supreme Court contender

        Candice Norwood · February 18
      • ‘The bench is loaded’: A record number of Latinas are running for governor

        Barbara Rodriguez · February 11
    • From the Collection

      Pandemic Within a Pandemic

      Illustration of four people marching for Black Lives Matter with coronavirus as the backdrop
      • Some LGBTQ+ people worry that the COVID-19 vaccine will affect HIV medication. It won’t.

        Orion Rummler · November 23
      • Why are more men dying from COVID? It’s a complicated story of nature vs. nurture, researchers say

        Mariel Padilla · September 22
      • Few incarcerated women were released during COVID. The ones who remain have struggled.

        Candice Norwood · August 17
    • From the Collection

      Portraits of a Pandemic

      Illustration of a woman wearing a mask and holding up the coronavirus
      • For family caregivers, COVID is a mental health crisis in the making

        Shefali Luthra · October 8
      • A new database tracks COVID-19’s effects on sex and gender

        Shefali Luthra · September 15
      • Pregnant in a pandemic: The 'perfect storm for a crisis'

        Shefali Luthra · August 25
    • From the Collection

      The 19th Explains

      People walking from many articles to one article where they can get the context they need on an issue.
      • The 19th Explains: The governor’s races we’re watching in 2022

        Barbara Rodriguez · May 3
      • The 19th Explains: What to know about Ketanji Brown Jackson’s Supreme Court confirmation hearing

        Candice Norwood, Terri Rupar · March 21
      • The 19th Explains: Colleges are dropping the SAT in admissions. That’s a good thing for most girls.

        Nadra Nittle · March 3
    • From the Collection

      The Electability Myth

      Illustration of three women speaking at podiums
      • Do term limits help women candidates? New York could be a new testing ground

        Barbara Rodriguez · January 11
      • Girls are being socialized to lose political ambition — and it starts younger than we realized

        Barbara Rodriguez · September 23
      • Kathy Hochul’s rise in New York spotlights the barriers to women becoming governors

        Barbara Rodriguez · August 23
    • From the Collection

      The Impact of Aging

      A number of older people walking down a path of information.
      • Woman alleges that an assisted living facility denied her admission because she is transgender

        Sara Luterman · November 8
      • LGBTQ+ seniors fear having to go back in closet for the care they need

        Sara Luterman · October 12
      • The pandemic continues to strain nursing homes. What happens if a lot of them close?

        Mariel Padilla · September 9
    • From the Collection

      Voting Rights

      A series of hands reaching for ballots.
      • Florida’s redistricting fight continues. The head of the state League of Women Voters talks about what’s at stake.

        Barbara Rodriguez · April 19
      • Women have been sounding the alarm ahead of Texas’ first-in-the-nation primary

        Barbara Rodriguez · February 28
      • LGBTQ+ people of color are at risk from rising voter restrictions as federal protections falter in the Senate, advocates say

        Orion Rummler · January 19

    View all collections

  • Explore by Topic

    • Abortion
    • Business & Economy
    • Caregiving
    • Coronavirus
    • Education
    • Election 2020
    • Elections 2022
    • Environment & Climate
    • Health
    • Immigration
    • Inside The 19th
    • Justice
    • LGBTQ+
    • Politics
    • Race
    • Sports
    • Technology

    View All Topics

Home
  • Our Mission
  • Our Team
  • Latest Stories
  • Upcoming Events
  • Contact Us
  • Newsletter
  • Donate
  • Work With Us
  • Fellowships

We’re an independent, nonprofit newsroom reporting on gender, politics and policy. Read our story.

The 19th News(letter)

News that represents you, in your inbox every weekday.

You have been subscribed!

Submitting...

Uh-oh! Something went wrong. Please try again later.

Donate to get our member newsletter

The 19th thanks our sponsors. Become one.

DeShanna Neal and her daughter Trinity Neal, on a park bench.
DeShanna Neal and her daughter Trinity Neal, sat on a park bench near their home in Wilmington, Delaware. Trinity was the first child in her state to have gender-confirming surgery covered by Medicaid. (Scott Hoon / Barcroft Media via Getty Images)

LGBTQ+

More Americans now know transgender people, but most still don’t seem to understand them

The number of people who know a transgender person has jumped dramatically in the past five years. But the number of people who believe gender is determined by sex assigned at birth has barely budged.

Kate Sosin

LGBTQ+ reporter

Kate Sosin portrait

Published

2021-07-27 10:00
10:00
July 27, 2021
am

Share

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Email

A growing number of Americans know a transgender person. Still, most believe that gender is determined by the sex they were assigned at birth. 

In a new poll Tuesday, the Pew Research Center found that 42 percent of Americans personally know a transgender person, a marked jump from five years ago when that number hovered at just 30 percent. 

In the survey, most Americans — 56 percent — said that gender was determined by sex assigned at birth, a number that has barely changed since 2017, when 54 percent of Americans said the same thing. That belief contradicts the experiences of an estimated 1.4 million transgender Americans and the findings of major groups like the American Medical Association, which classifies trans and nonbinary genders “as normal variations of human identity and expression.”

The 19th thanks our sponsors. Become one.

Pew also reported that though 26 percent of people said they know someone who uses gender neutral pronouns like “they/them” (up from 18 percent in 2017), respondents had not grown more comfortable using those pronouns. Half of Americans said they would feel comfortable using gender neutral pronouns, while 48 percent said they would not, the survey found.

Young people, Democrats and people with higher levels of education were more likely to know transgender people; 53 percent of Americans age 30 and younger said they knew a trans person personally. Just 35 percent of Republicans reported knowing a trans person compared to 48 percent of Democrats. Those with a college degree (46 percent) were more likely than those without (41 percent) to report knowing a trans person. 

Rachel Minkin, a Pew research associate who co-authored the study, noted that younger people tended to be more likely to know a trans person and comfortable with gender neutral pronouns.

A newsletter you can relate to

Storytelling that represents you, delivered to your inbox.

You have been subscribed!

Submitting…

Uh-oh! Something went wrong. Please try again later.

“You can see that there’s a range of opinions on these topics, but also can look at the shares who are increasing in knowing someone who is transgender or use gender neutral pronouns,” Minkin said.  

While the numbers are a mixed bag in terms of acceptance for transgender Americans, the dramatic jump in people who know a transgender person, especially among younger generations, will likely hearten LGBTQ+ advocates. Research has demonstrated that personal relationships with LGBTQ+ people often shape opinions on key policy issues that impact the community, such as transgender sports participation, bathroom access and gender-affirming health care. 

The report is based on a June survey of 10,606 of the country’s adults. Its results align with survey findings reported by PBS earlier this year. 

Share

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Email

Building stronger together.

A new model for nonprofit journalism: For our readers. For our team. For our community.

Become a member

Sign up for our newsletter

Up Next

Trans athletes Chris Mosier and Layshia Clarendon.

LGBTQ+

‘My biggest struggle has always been with the media’: Trans athletes expect an extra Olympic hurdle

How the world perceives transgender athletes will depend on how news outlets portray them.

Read the Story

The 19th
The 19th is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization. Our stories are free to republish in accordance with these guidelines.

  • Donate
  • Subscribe to the Newsletter
  • Attend an Event
  • Jobs
  • Fellowships
  • Contact Us
  • About Us
  • Community Guidelines
  • Membership
  • Membership FAQ
  • Major Gifts
  • Sponsorship
  • Privacy
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Instagram