Transgender bathroom policy divides swing state voters, poll shows

Voters from Florida, Pennsylvania and Ohio are divided over whether to allow transgender people to use bathrooms according to their gender identity or not, the recent results of a Quinnipiac University Swing State Poll revealed.

The poll results, released Thursday, June 23, showed that swing state voters are almost evenly divided over the issue. However, many of them agreed that the government should not force public schools to let transgender students use facilities intended for women, such as bathrooms and dressing rooms.

Those who said transgender people should be allowed to use public bathrooms based on the gender they identify with comprise 48 percent of Florida voters, 49 percent of Pennsylvania voters and 48 percent of Ohio voters.

On the other hand, those who said transgender people should use bathrooms based on their biological sex comprise 44 percent of Florida voters, 43 percent of Pennsylvania voters and 43 percent of Ohio voters.

Those who oppose the federal government's directive that public schools should let transgender students use bathrooms, locker rooms and dressing rooms according to their gender identity comprise 54 percent of Florida voters, 53 percent of Pennsylvania voters and 55 percent of Ohio voters.

The survey was conducted through landline and mobile from June 8 to 19, with 975 respondents from Florida, 950 from Pennsylvania and 971 from Ohio.

The poll also included other issues, such as whether athletes should participate in the Olympics in Brazil, where local Zika virus transmissions and evidence of microcephaly in Zika infected babies have been detected.

"The issue of transgender people and the use of public bathrooms finds voters split on exactly what should be done," Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Poll, said in a statement. "Voters in Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania oppose the federal government order to public schools that they must let transgender students use the bathroom of the gender with which they identify."