--- description: A poll released Friday by the Public Religion Research Institute shows the majority of Americans oppose so-called "bathroom bills." title: Poll: Majority of Americans Oppose 'Bathroom Bills' image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltab94ca88ed34f422/69888f932dce01847c9e8b38/tennessee-bathroom-trans.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Politics](/section/politics/) ## Politics Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [LGBT](/tag/lgbt/) ## LGBT Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Poll: Majority of Americans Oppose 'Bathroom Bills' by [Katy Steinmetz](/author/katy-steinmetz/) ## Katy Steinmetz Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 10, 2017 6:57 PM CUT  Peter Dazeley—Getty Images by [Katy Steinmetz](/author/katy-steinmetz/) ## Katy Steinmetz Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 10, 2017 6:57 PM CUT [A poll](http://www.prri.org/research/lgbt-transgender-bathroom-discrimination-religious-liberty/ "undefined") released Friday by the Public Religion Research Institute shows the majority of Americans oppose so-called “[bathroom bills](http://time.com/3974186/transgender-bathroom-debate/ "undefined")” that would require [transgender people](http://time.com/135480/transgender-tipping-point/ "undefined") to use the bathrooms that correspond with their sex at birth rather than their gender identity, but there is a sharp divide between Republicans and Democrats. Just over half (53%) of the roughly 2,000 people interviewed for the survey in February said they oppose such measures, including roughly two-thirds of Democrats (65%) but just over one-third of Republicans (36%). In total, about 40% said they support such measures, with about one-in-ten saying they had no opinion on the subject. In the wake of the Supreme Court decision legalizing same-sex marriage, the rights of transgender people have [become the hottest focus](http://time.com/4277247/north-carolina-georgia-lgbt-rights-religious-liberty-bills/ "undefined") in state-level fights over LGBT rights. More than a dozen states are considering some form of “bathroom bill,” some dictating the people must use facilities that match the sex on their birth certificate and others explicitly referencing people’s anatomy and chromosomes. In a [tense hearing](http://time.com/4693808/texas-bathroom-bill-hearing/ "undefined") over such a bill in Texas earlier this week, which lasted nearly 21 hours, hundreds of people testified. Though the majority of those who signed up to speak opposed the measure, the heavily Republican [committee](http://www.senate.texas.gov/cmte.php?c=570 "undefined") passed the bill in an 8-to-1 vote. The PRRI poll also found that a strong majority of Americans — 70%, including 60% of Republicans — support nondiscrimination protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in areas including public accommodations. Such laws, when they explicitly include protections for people based on gender identity, help to protect transgender people’s right to use bathrooms where they are most comfortable in the public square. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4698392/transgender-bathroom-bill-poll/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4698392/transgender-bathroom-bill-poll/"},"headline":"Poll: Majority of Americans Oppose 'Bathroom Bills'","datePublished":"2017-03-10T18:57:38.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-31T10:47:39.262Z","description":"But Democrats and Republican are seriously split","url":"https://time.com/4698392/transgender-bathroom-bill-poll/","keywords":["LGBT","Transgender","bathroom bill"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltab94ca88ed34f422/69888f932dce01847c9e8b38/tennessee-bathroom-trans.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Katy Steinmetz","jobTitle":"","url":"https://time.com/author/katy-steinmetz/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltab94ca88ed34f422/69888f932dce01847c9e8b38/tennessee-bathroom-trans.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"tennessee-bathroom-trans","caption":"Bathroom signs","creditText":"Peter Dazeley—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/lgbt/","name":"LGBT"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4698392/transgender-bathroom-bill-poll/","name":"Poll: Majority of Americans Oppose 'Bathroom Bills'"}}]}] ```