Nearly Half Of Millennials Believe Misgendering Should Be Illegal: POLL

Nearly Half Of Millennials Believe Misgendering Should Be Illegal: POLL

Jason Cohen on July 17, 2023

A substantial portion of millennials aged 25-34 agree that misgendering should be a crime, according to polling conducted exclusively for Newsweek that was published on Saturday.

The survey found 44% of individuals aged 25-34 believe “referring to someone by the wrong gender pronoun (he/him, she/her) should be a criminal offense,” while 31% of them disagree, according to Newsweek. The remaining 25% “neither agree nor disagree” or “don’t know,” the poll surveying 1,500 eligible U.S. voters and conducted by Redfield and Wilson Strategies on July 6 found.

The percentage was somewhat lower for people aged 35-44 as 38% stated they hold the belief that misgendering should be a crime, while 35% disagree, according to Newsweek. Among all Americans, 19% think misgendering should be a crime, and 65% disagree.

As for Generation Z Americans who are eligible to vote — aged 18-24— 33% believe misgendering should be illegal, while 48% disagree.

A significant number of Americans stated they would refer to transgender people by the pronouns they request, according to Newsweek. Specifically, 37% would call someone who is biologically male “she/her” if asked, while 17% said they would persist in saying “he/his.” Meanwhile, 28% said it “depends on the person,” and 17% were uncertain about their stance.

The figures were comparable for biological females who desire to be referred to using male pronouns, Newsweek reported.

Over 250 celebrities in film, music and other industries signed an open letter to pressure social media companies to censor certain speech regarding transgender individuals and the transgender movement in June. Figures such as Alyssa Milano, Ariana Grande, Demi Lovato and many more signed the letter, which takes issue with misgendering and “deadnaming,” which is calling a person by their birth name rather than their preferred name.