New Poll Reveals New York State Voters Want Senator Schumer to Amend the Equality Act to Protect Single Sex Spaces
A new poll conducted by Spry Strategies on behalf of Women’s Liberation Front (WoLF) found that only 28 percent of New York voters support passing the Equality Act without any amendments protecting single-sex spaces and services such as changing rooms, homeless shelters, and women’s sports, even though the overwhelming majority of New York voters support the Equality Act’s anti-discrimination protections in employment, housing, and public accommodations.
If passed, the bill would revoke the law’s ability to allow any accommodations for women on the basis of sex and codify the regulatory changes President Biden laid forth in his Executive Order on gender identity his first day in office. These results, based on a sample 1,000 likely voters, are in line with national polling from October 2020 which found that while U.S. voters strongly support employment and housing protections, they also do not want women’s single-sex spaces and accommodations to be outlawed.
Summary of Key Results
85 percent of NY voters believe that people who are gay or identify as transgender should be protected from discrimination in employment, housing, and public accommodations.
Only 20 percent of NY voters approve of male domestic abusers and sex offenders being housed in women’s prisons regardless of their claimed “gender identity.”
Only 28 percent of New York voters support passing the Equality Act in its current form (and only one-third of voters who strongly support the Equality Act think it does not need to be amended)
87 percent of NY voters agree that employees should be allowed to express personal and spiritual convictions outside the workplace without getting fired.
More than half of voters said that federal law should be changed so that incarcerated men who are gay or identify as transgender can choose to live in specialty units apart from the general men’s population if they feel unsafe; only 25 percent of respondents said that they should not have the choice to be housed separately.
Voters also disapprove (60 percent) of allowing children who say they identify as transgender to be given cross-sex hormones or cosmetic surgery to resemble the opposite sex.
Analysis
While debates in Congress and in the media around gender identity policies are largely framed as highly partisan, the results of this poll reveal more agreement across parties on many issues than may be expected. Specifically, Democrats and Republicans largely agree on strengthening worker protections, saving women’s sports, and keeping male sex offenders out of women’s prisons. Independent and third-party voters overwhelmingly supported protecting women’s single-sex spaces in nearly every question surveyed.
The racial crosstabs reveal a complicated pattern of opinion. Broadly, white (n=671) and Native American (n = 21) voters appear to be the least likely to support “gender identity” policies that would infringe on women’s spaces while Asian Americans (n=18) appear to be the most likely to support these policies. The results among black (n=135) and Hispanic (n=59) voters are much more mixed. Black, white, and Hispanic voters were all more likely to support amending the Equality Act to protect single-sex spaces and services, however, there was widespread uncertainty across all races: ranging from 22 percent among voters of “other” races (n=96) to 45 percent uncertainty among Asian American voters.
Unsurprisingly, young voters (18-34) were the most likely to support gender identity policies. However, on most questions, even a majority of young people expressed opposition to eliminating single-sex spaces. For the most part, the poorest New Yorkers (those making less than $25,000/year) and the richest (those making over $150,000/year) were most likely to strongly support gender identity policies, such as housing male sex offenders in women’s prisons. Middle-class voters expressed the strongest opposition to letting men into female changing rooms and forcing women to receive medal exams from male healthcare providers.
The bottom line is this: Most Americans embrace the principle that no person should lose their job, their place to live, or their ability to participate in public life on the basis of who they are or what they believe. At the same time, they understand that protection against discrimination for trans-identified people should not mean putting sex-based protections for women and girls at risk.
The results are consistent with national and statewide polling in California, Idaho, South Dakota, and West Virginia which show that while U.S. voters largely support anti-discrimination measures to protect minorities, mainstream voters also disapprove of “gender identity” policies that would impact women’s single-sex facilities and accommodations. While Democrats forge ahead with the Equality Act in the House and Senate, it is clear that they are working against the will of the people.
Methodology
The WoLF New York State Public Opinion Survey was conducted by Live Callers, IVR and Online Mobile Interviews from March 12 - March 15 among a random sample of 1,000 double screened likely voters. The survey design blended traditional live caller methods, online mobile and online panel interviews for a scientifically sound sample from NY's diverse electorate.
The survey's sample included 47,505 registered voters who voted in at least 2 of the last 4 general elections in 2014, 2016, 2018 & 2020 & a random sample of 2,500 newly registered voters from 1.1.18 - 3.12.2021. The survey has a margin of error of +/- 3.1 percentage points. Some percentages in crosstab reports for this poll may not add to 100 percent due to rounding.
Results are weighted based on the 2020 general election turnout for age, race, party affiliation and gender according to the New York State Board of Elections.