Respondents were also surveyed on two issues that have had many parents across the country up in arms in recent years: the use of certain bathrooms by students of the opposite sex and transgender participation on sports teams.
Most participants (60%) said that transgender-identifying students should use the bathroom of the gender they were assigned at birth. Twenty-eight percent of respondents said that students should be able to use the bathroom of the gender they identify as.
More than half of respondents said that they favored providing gender-inclusive bathrooms, while almost 40% opposed it.
In regards to sports, respondents were asked if transgender-identifying students should be allowed to play on the team of the gender of which they claim to be.
Twenty-seven percent said that a girl who identifies as a boy should be able to play on the boys’ team whereas almost 60% of respondents said that the girl should be required to play on the girl’s team.
Answering for the opposite scenario, 23% of respondents said that a boy who identifies as a girl should be allowed to play on the girl’s team. Sixty-four percent said that a biological boy should have to play on the boy’s team.
Respondents were surveyed on several other issues including if they approve the teaching of “the range of ways people express their gender” in high school, if transgender-identifying students should be able to attend sex education classes for the gender they identify as, and what constitutes a man or woman.
A little over half of adults surveyed said whether someone is a man or woman is determined by the sex they were “assigned at birth.”
Are schools doing enough?
Ultimately, when respondents were asked about how much New Jersey public schools are doing in regards to teaching about gender identity, 45% of respondents said “too much.”
Almost a quarter said the “right amount” and 16% said not enough. Seventeen percent didn’t know.
(Story continues below)
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Joseph Bukuras is a journalist at the Catholic News Agency. Joe has prior experience working in state and federal government, in non-profits, and Catholic education. He has contributed to an array of publications and his reporting has been cited by leading news sources, including the New York Times and the Washington Post. He holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from the Catholic University of America. He is based out of the Boston area.