According to a new YouGov poll, a vast majority of Americans are not open to a romantic relationship or sexual intercourse with transgender or non-binary people. This may seem a bit self-evident to many Americans, but it’s actually a contentious issue among transgender activists.
When asked if they are open to dating a transgender man, 76 percent of Americans said they were not, while only 17 percent said they were. The numbers weren’t much different for transgender women (77 percent not open, 16 percent open) or non-binary people (75 percent not open, 18 percent open).
Even fewer Americans were interested in sexual relations with transgender or non-binary people. A full 79 percent said they were not open to sex with a transgender man, and 80 percent said the same for a transgender woman, while 78 percent agreed about sex with a non-binary person. Less the one-fifth of Americans were open to sex with a transgender man (15 percent), woman (13 percent) or non-binary person (15 percent).
Most Americans understand that it is one thing to accept people in society and another to be romantically or sexually attracted to them. Taxpayers might even be willing to pay for transgender surgery before they would consider romance with transgender people.
This may sound harsh, and many transgender activists might consider it cissexist (that is, biased towards people who identify with their birth gender, or are “cisgender”). But when it comes to romance — and especially to sexual intercourse — attitudes and preferences are much more personal and much harder to change.
This is emphatically not to say that transgender people are somehow not people or less human — they have just as much dignity as cisgender people. But many Americans still consider transgender identity to be something other than … natural.
According to the YouGov survey, 21 percent of Americans considered transgender identity to be a mental illness, while only 46 percent said it is not. A full 34 percent admitted that they do not know. A full 39 percent said transgender identity is a choice, while only 33 percent sided with the politically correct view that it is not.
Ironically, when asked about “cisgender” identity — identifying with the gender corresponding to a person’s biological sex — something most Americans would likely describe as “normal,” a full 9 percent said it is a mental illness, while only 60 percent said it is not. A further 27 percent said being “cisgender” is a choice, while 44 percent said it is not.
Americans seem confused by gender identity and the terms to explain it, but when it came to sexuality and romance, the results were clear — only a small minority of Americans were willing to consider sex and romantic relationships with those who identify as transgender or non-binary.
Most straight — and even openly homosexual — Americans tend to be attracted to people whose gender corresponds to their birth sex, according to this YouGov survey. This should not be surprising.
But apparently, it is. At least one transgender activist, YouTube star Riley J. Dennis, insisted that “genital preferences” — as in a sexual preference for biological men or biological women — are “transphobic” and the result of a cissexist society. In order to be accepting of transgender people, Americans need to be sexually and romantically open to them as well.
Excuse Dennis’s vulgarity: “Some people are making the argument that it’s not cissexist at all to only be attracted to people with one kind of genitals. These people might argue that being attracted to only women with vaginas in no way negatively affects trans people,” the YouTube star said. But this man who identifies as a woman said “it’s more complicated than that.”
Apparently, it is discriminatory and “cissexist” to only be attracted to people who aren’t transgender. But this is a demand one step too far for most Americans. The YouGov survey also asked with whom Americans have had sexual relations recently, and only 3 percent said they had done so with transgender or non-binary people (1 percent each for transgender men, transgender women, and non-binary people), while 39 percent said they had done so with “cisgender” people. (Naturally, 17 percent said they prefer not to say, and 44 percent had sex with none of these groups.)
Americans are willing to indulge politically correct and LGBT liberal activism to some extent, but they clearly draw a line on personal issues like romance and sexuality. Contrary to LGBT activists like Dennis, this is perfectly acceptable. It is a bridge too far to ask Americans to change their romantic and sexual preferences to fit your political agenda, no matter how “progressive.”
Click “Load More” to watch Riley Dennis’s YouTube video arguing that “genital preferences” are “transphobic.”
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