Support slips for openly transgender service members: Gallup

A new Gallup poll found support among Americans for transgender individuals serving in the military has decreased to 58 percent, down from 71 percent in 2019 and 66 percent in 2021.

The survey was conducted around the time President Trump implemented two executive orders last month to reinstate a ban on openly transgender military personnel.

The decline in support for transgender individuals serving in the military is primarily influenced by Republicans, per the poll. Independents also contributed to the decrease, though to a lesser extent.

Only 23 percent of Republicans currently support openly transgender individuals serving in the military, a significant drop from the 43 percent support noted in both 2019 and 2021.

Support among independents has also decreased, with 62 percent currently in favor, down from 78 percent in 2019, but only slightly less than the 66 percent recorded in 2021.

Meanwhile, support for transgender individuals serving in the military among Democrats remains strong at 84 percent, showing little variation since 2019.

Trump’s executive order is facing legal challenges, as two groups of transgender service members sued him, saying that the ban “does not further the objectives of the United States Armed Forces.”

Transgender men and women were first permitted to serve openly in the U.S. military when a ban was lifted in 2016, during Barack Obama’s final year as president. A year later, Trump attempted to reinstate a ban, barring transgender individuals from serving in the military.

Due to legal challenges, existing transgender military personnel continued their service. But new recruits could only enlist according to their sex assigned at birth.

In 2021, shortly after taking office, former President Joe Biden overturned Trump’s ban, restoring the right for transgender Americans to join and serve in the military.

Trump’s latest move to ban transgender individuals from service was a campaign promise and is part of his administration’s broader crackdown on what it has called “gender insanity” in the federal government. 

Gallup conducted a random telephone survey of 1,001 adults from Jan. 21-27. The margin of error was plus or minus 4 percentage points at the 95 percent confidence level.

The Gallup survey of 1,001 respondents, taken Jan. 21-27, has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.