The majority of Americans are uncomfortable with transgender athletes participating on sports teams that do not match their assigned sex at birth, according to new research from Pew Research Center.
According to a November 2025 survey of American adults, some 73 percent of respondents said they were either “not too” or “not at all” comfortable with transgender athletes competing on teams that do not match their sex at birth. About 14 percent said they were “somewhat” comfortable and 13 percent said they were either “very” or “extremely” comfortable. In an earlier survey from February 2025, two-thirds of American adults said they would favor laws or policies that require transgender athletes to compete on teams that match their assigned sex at birth; 15 percent said they would oppose, while 19 percent said they would neither oppose nor favor such regulations.
Notably, Americans’ opinions on this topic vary significantly based on political affiliation. Over nine in ten Republican respondents said they were uncomfortable with transgender athletes competing on teams that do not match their assigned sex at birth; some 55 percent of Democrats held the same opinion. Nearly all conservative Republicans (95 percent) said they were uncomfortable with trans athletes playing on teams that do not match their birth sex, compared to only 38 percent of liberal Democrats.
While the majority of Americans of all backgrounds said they would be uncomfortable with transgender athletes competing on teams that do not match their sex at birth, there are some variations in opinion by demographic groups. Men were more likely than women to express discomfort (77 percent versus 68 percent). By race, White Americans expressed more discomfort (75 percent) with the topic than Hispanic Americans (67 percent), Black Americans (68 percent), and Asian Americans (68 percent). Eight in ten adults over the age of 65 said they were uncomfortable with transgender athletes participating on teams that do not match their assigned sex at birth, compared to six in ten adults between the ages of 18 and 29. Among LGBTQ adults, only a third said they would be uncomfortable with this, while 45 percent said they would be very or extremely comfortable.