Britain Is Less Supportive of Pro-Trans Reforms Than Other Countries
Although around two-thirds of the British public think that transgender people face "a great deal or fair amount" of discrimination, support for various pro-trans reforms ranks below almost all other countries surveyed. The results come from Ipsos MORI's latest annual pride survey, which also found that although support for same-sex marriage and adoption remains high, it has declined marginally in recent years across the globe.
Out of the 30 countries surveyed, respondents in 28 supported allowing trans individuals to access the single-sex spaces of the gender with which they identify. The 30-country average sees 55% of voters supporting transgender people's right to access single-sex spaces, with just 30% disagreeing.
Great Britain was evenly split - with 40% supporting and 40% opposing allowing Transgender people to access single-sex spaces. That's a lower figure in favour than in Hungary, Poland and Turkey. The United States finished with the highest opposition to allowing trans people to access gendered facilities of any country, on 45%.
Considering how the debate is often framed, it's also worth noting that women are more likely to support trans people's right to access single-sex spaces of their identified gender - by a net margin of +32%.
Elsewhere, Britain was among the 29 countries with net positive support for allowing transgender teenagers to seek medical interventions, on the condition parental consent - with 47% supporting and 35% in opposition. However, support was lower than in 27 other countries, with only the United States and Hungary more opposed. Voters in Britain were also more opposed to allowing gender transition to take place under health insurance than voters in 87% of other countries surveyed.
Despite Britain's relatively low support for pro-trans reforms, public opinion remains supportive of same-sex couples, relative to others. This bucks the international trend of a positive correlation between the two positions. Although the United States is in a comparable situation, the difference between public opinion on sexuality and gender is of far greater magnitude in Britain. This points to the unique state of public debate on the topic of transgender rights.
