A majority of Georgia voters believe transgender people are discriminated against, but they also think they should be restricted to using bathrooms and playing on school sports teams according to the gender on their birth certificate, according to a new poll by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
A strong majority — 65% — of registered voters polled said they believe transgender people experience “a great deal” or “fair amount” of discrimination. Another 21% told the AJC that transgender people face “some” discrimination.
But recognizing that discrimination exists didn’t mean they disagreed with the restrictive laws aimed at transgender people Georgia Republicans have been pushing for the past few years.
Lt. Gov. Burt Jones has made passing laws to regulate girls’ and women’s sports a top priority this legislative session. State Sen. Greg Dolezal, a Republican from Cumming who served as chair of a Senate committee created by Jones to study the issue, filed legislation Monday that would require middle, high school and college girls and women playing sports to play on teams matching their gender at birth.
House Speaker Jon Burns has also said restricting transgender girls’ participation in girls’ sports is a top concern, indicating the issue is likely to sail through the Legislature.
Just more than 70% of Georgia voters surveyed by the AJC indicated support for legislation like that proposed by Jones. Nearly 60% of respondents said they “strongly favor” keeping transgender girls out of girls sports and another 10% said they “somewhat favor” the idea.
The AJC’s January poll of 1,000 registered Georgia voters was conducted between Jan. 2 and Jan. 10 by the University of Georgia’s School of Public and International Affairs Survey Research Center. The margin of error is 3.1 percentage points.
The law would apply to transgender women and girls playing sports at public middle schools, high schools and colleges. It also would require private and out-of-state schools to comply with the law if they compete against Georgia public schools.
“I think you should compete in the sport in which you were born. If you were born a man, you should play and compete with men,” said Devoris Marks, 41, who lives in Clayton County.
Essie Bowling, 82, said she thinks lawmakers should make exceptions based on development prior to transitioning.
“If you’re a junior in high school and you decide you’re female, it might be late in the game. But if they were treated when they were 10 and have been a female that whole time, they should be able to play with other girls,” she said. “It depends on when the transition was made and how much of their body is like the sex they transitioned to.”
In 2023, Republican lawmakers passed a bill that bans transgender minors from receiving certain treatments, such as hormone replacement therapy.
More than 54% of voters polled said transgender people should be limited to using the bathroom that correlates to the gender on their birth certificate, with nearly 47% saying they would “strongly agree” with the restrictive laws.
Republican lawmakers have said they don’t plan to pursue what’s been called “bathroom bans,” but many LGBTQ+ activists say putting limitations on transgender girls playing sports could open the door to further regulations on transgender people.
“The number of transgender girls who want to be involved in sports is vanishingly small,” said Dan Williams, 68, who lives in McDonough. “It really doesn’t make a huge difference for me. I wouldn’t go out of my way to ban it.”
Republicans have been unable to identify any transgender children competing in sports in Georgia.
School safety, reproductive issues
The poll also found more than half of Georgians worry about someone in their family becoming the victim of a mass shooting.
After the shooting at Apalachee High School last year, House Speaker Jon Burns vowed to consider all “reasonable” measures that could curb mass shootings, especially at schools. While he’s not expanded much on that desire yet, he has said he’s supportive of a proposal that would grant tax credits to people who purchase gun safety equipment, such as safes or trigger locks.
Most Georgia voters polled, about 51%, say they are “somewhat” or “very” worried that they or someone in their family could become a victim of a mass shooting. More than 58% said the best way for lawmakers to get control of mass shootings at schools is to spend more public money on things such as school resource officers or metal detectors. About 28% said passing more stringent gun control measures is more likely to combat school shootings. Another 9% said both gun restrictions and more security are needed.
Still, a plurality — 41% — of voters say they are “not confident at all” that stricter gun laws would reduce mass shootings. About 14% of respondents said they are “not so confident” that gun restrictions would prevent mass shootings. Less than 44% of voters polled said they are “somewhat” or “very” confident that restricting access to guns would curb mass shootings.
Catherine Doxey, 62, who lives in Marietta, said she believes citizens should have the right to own guns, within reason.
“I’m not talking about assault rifles used in war,” she said. “There need to be proper checks and balances.”
Georgians surveyed were in greater agreement in supporting legislation guaranteeing rights to in vitro fertilization, a medical procedure used by people who have trouble conceiving children.
More than 79% of respondents told the AJC they would support Georgia passing a law that would guarantee access to the procedure.
The IVF process includes fertilizing an egg that can either be placed directly in the uterus or be frozen for future use. Oftentimes, unused embryos are discarded, given to other people seeking children or donated to science.
After the Alabama Supreme Court last year ruled that state’s abortion law required frozen eggs be treated as children, some Republican lawmakers began to worry that Georgia’s abortion law could have similar unintended consequences. The abortion laws in Alabama are similar to the laws in Georgia.
Ronny Childress, 45, who lives in Jackson County, said he has mixed opinions because he sees both viewpoints.
“I can see the moral issues some have, but I can also see the benefits, especially for parents who want children so bad and they struggle — women who fight depression as a result of not being able to have children,” he said. “When it’s used for those purposes, I can support it.”
