Voters widely oppose taxpayer-funded gender surgeries, revealing Democrat Party's vulnerability: poll
Taxpayer-funded gender transition surgeries remain a vulnerable issue for the Democratic Party that most voters oppose, according to a recent survey by the American Principles Project (APP) targeting likely midterm voters.
"We wanted to help educate Americans, but mostly legislators, about where Americans or how Americans feel about funding for gender identity programs, specifically in healthcare services, especially in light of Congress deliberating on spending and doing the reconciliation bills and all of that," Terry Schilling, APP executive director, told Fox News Digital in an interview. "We want to make sure that they knew just how unpopular these programs are to fund by tax dollars."
The survey, conducted in early April with 1,500 respondents, found that 43% of people who voted for former Vice President Kamala Harris in the last election are against using taxpayer money to fund gender transition procedures, including surgeries and hormone treatments.
"That was a little bit higher than we typically see for Democrat voters," Schilling said. APP is a socially conservative nonprofit advocacy group.
During the last few months of President Donald Trump's presidential campaign, his administration released high-budget ads targeting transgender women in women's sports that may have helped move the needle with swing voters, with one ad famously proclaiming "Kamala is for they/them, President Trump is for you."
The ad focused on Harris' track record of ushering in sex change procedures for incarcerated people in California.
The survey found that nearly 66% of Americans don't think the federal government should be funding gender transition procedures, including puberty blockers, hormones and surgeries. The survey did not differentiate between minors and adults.
"The higher ups, like the elected officials in the Democratic Party, are going the other way, and it's not going to work out well for them," Schilling said. "Democrats are in a really tough spot. They have to choose between 20 to 30% of the base, which supports paying for gender transitions and surgeries with tax dollars, or the swing voters, which swing voters do not want at all."
In 2021, former President Joe Biden signed an executive order directing federal agencies to expand anti-discrimination protections to include sexual orientation and gender identity, including in healthcare. He also reinterpreted Title IX to ensure those same protections applied within educational settings.
The administration supported state-level initiatives, such as Colorado's inclusion of transgender treatments in its essential health benefits, under the Affordable Care Act.
"I think that the more Donald Trump's been talking about it and bringing attention to it, the more people are going to the Republican side on the issue," Schilling said.
Another question of the survey asked respondents, "If the November 2026 general election for U.S. Congress was held today, and you knew that the Democratic candidate supports allowing federal tax dollars to pay for gender transition procedures, including puberty blockers, hormones, and surgeries, would you vote for the Republican or Democratic candidate for U.S. Congress?"
Fifty-two percent of respondents said they would vote for the Republican candidate, while 39% said they would back the Democrat.
Trump has clamped down on "radical gender ideology" since taking office, cutting all federal funding for gender transition surgeries for minors and through public healthcare. He has also banned biological males from competing in women's sports and mandated that transgender individuals serve according to their biological sex in the military.