Iowans are sharply divided on banning transgender girls from female sports, Iowa Poll finds
Ian RichardsonDes Moines Register
© Copyright 2022, Des Moines Register and Tribune Co.
Iowans’ opinions are split nearly evenly on a new state law that bans transgender girls and women from competing in female sports offered by Iowa’s schools, colleges and universities.
Forty-six percent of Iowans favor the law, while 45% oppose it, according to the Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa Poll. Another 9% say they are not sure.
The new survey illustrates the polarizing nature of the legislation, which Gov. Kim Reynolds, a Republican, signed into law Thursday. Poll respondents are sharply divided along party lines. The poll also shows splits by gender, age and parental status.
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But four in five likely voters who plan to support Reynolds in the fall support the new law, the poll found — showing the issue has strong appeal among Reynolds’ base as she prepares to launch a reelection campaign.
Iowa’s new law would require school-sponsored athletic events to be designated as a men's, women's or coeducational sport. Athletes competing in women's sports need to have female listed as the sex on their birth certificate. There is not a similar prohibition for men's sports in the bill.
The law took effect immediately, making Iowa the 11th state, all Republican-led, to enact some form of restriction on the ability of transgender women and girls to participate in sports. Legal experts expect Iowa’s law to face a court challenge, just as laws have in some other states.
Selzer and Co. conducted the poll of 813 Iowans Feb. 28 through March 2. Polling ended the day the Iowa Senate passed the legislation, and Reynolds signed it into law the following afternoon. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.4 percentage points; it’s plus or minus 4 percentage points for questions asked of 612 likely voters in the 2022 general election.
More:Kim Reynolds has signed a transgender athlete law. Will it end up in court?
Republicans widely favor new law; most Democrats disapprove
Votes on the law in the Iowa Legislature split along party lines, with only one Republican — Rep. Michael Bergan, R-Dorchester — joining Democrats in opposition.
Republicans have said the law addresses a fairness issue because they believe transgender girls could hold athletic advantages. But Democrats and LGBTQ advocacy groups have condemned the new law, saying it discriminates against transgender girls and violates civil rights laws.
The poll found a stark split between Republicans and Democrats statewide. Nearly three-quarters of Republicans favor the law, at 72%, while more than three-fourths of Democrats oppose it, at 77%. Independents are more closely divided but slightly more favor the law by a 48% to 45% margin.
Poll respondent Scott Link, a 44-year-old pest control worker from Des Moines, said he supports the new law because he agrees with other Republicans that transgender girls and women could hold biological athletic advantages.
“You have to look at the fairness of the sports, especially if you’re looking at high school, junior high or anything like that,” said Link, who is a registered Republican.
But Mary Jane Woodman, a 72-year-old retired sales worker from Urbandale, said she sees the law as exclusionary against transgender kids.
“You're eliminating children that are a little bit different from being involved in things that are good for them," said Woodman, a Democrat. "Everybody needs physical activity, so why should those children be excluded from that?"
More:Kim Reynolds bans transgender girls from female sports, signing Republican-backed law
Most women oppose the new law, while most men support it
The poll shows 52% of women oppose the new law, versus 38% who favor it. But most men — 55% — favor the legislation, versus 39% who oppose it.The majority of parents with children under 18 approve of the law, by a margin of 54% to 39%.
Poll respondent Jessica Plummer, a 35-year-old community college student from Coralville, said athletic participation rules present a tough decision. But she said she ultimately believes Iowa should allow children to compete as the gender they identify as, “because that’s who they are.”
“Especially when they're that young, they need to be accepted and included — and reinforcing that this is who I am, and this is who you are, and we all accept that,” said Plummer, a Democrat. “I think they're doing the wrong thing by telling those little kids that they can't be who they are and do what they want to do.”
Tisha Junge, a 49-year-old Cedar Rapids resident who works in software development, agrees that the issue is complicated. But she believes the ban helps with fairness.
Iowans were asked: "Here are some specific issues that have been debated in the Iowa Legislature. For each, please tell me if you favor or oppose the initiative."
Ban transgender girls and women from competing in female sports offered by Iowa's schools, colleges and universities
Among Iowans who have a child under the age of 18 currently in Iowa
Junge said she agrees with Reynolds’ perspectives on a variety of policies.
“I think she's got a pretty good handle on what we need to kind of pump the brakes on," Junge said.
Middle-age Iowans like Junge are more likely to support the legislation than those in other age groups. The poll found a majority of those under 35 oppose the measure, at 59%. Meanwhile, 59% of Iowans ages 35-54 favor the proposal. Those over age 55 are more closely split, with 45% favoring and 43% opposing.
The issue is particularly popular among likely voters who support reelecting Reynolds. Reynolds has not officially announced her plan to run for a second full term as governor, but she is widely expected to run this year.
Likely voters who support Reynolds favor the legislation 80% to 17%.
The polling supports that the law is a “play to her base,” said pollster J. Ann Selzer, president of Selzer & Co. “If her goal is to get out her base, then this is the kind of thing that they like to see.”
The difficulty on the issue could come if it turns off people Reynolds is trying to attract to the state, Selzer said.
Reynolds signed the law in the midst of a high-profile week that put Iowa and her governorship in the spotlight. On March 1, she signed a major tax cut law and later gave the nationally televised Republican response to President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address. She signed the transgender athletes law two days later.
The March poll also found that Reynolds leads Democratic candidate Deidre DeJear by a 51% to 43% among likely 2022 voters.
Iowans are sharply divided on banning transgender girls from female sports, Iowa Poll finds
The new poll illustrates the polarizing nature of the legislation, which Gov. Kim Reynolds, a Republican, signed into law Thursday.
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