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Increasing Public Support for Transgender Rights through Superordinate LGBT+ Rights Framing: Evidence from a US Survey Experiment on Transgender Participation in Sports

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 January 2025

Sam Whitt Open the ORCID record for Sam Whitt [Opens in a new window] ,
Alixandra B. Yanus Open the ORCID record for Alixandra B. Yanus [Opens in a new window] ,
Mark Setzler Open the ORCID record for Mark Setzler [Opens in a new window] ,
Brian McDonald ,
Gordon Ballingrud Open the ORCID record for Gordon Ballingrud [Opens in a new window]  and
Tyler Coleman
Sam Whitt
Affiliation:
High Point University, USA
Alixandra B. Yanus
Affiliation:
High Point University, USA
Mark Setzler
Affiliation:
High Point University, USA
Brian McDonald
Affiliation:
High Point University, USA
Gordon Ballingrud
Affiliation:
High Point University, USA
Tyler Coleman
Affiliation:
High Point University, USA
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Abstract

We consider how LGBT+ legal rights frameworks, broadly construed, can be used to bolster support within the general public for transgender subgroup rights. Our research is informed by theoretical perspectives on appeals to superordinate identities to reduce prejudice. Based on a survey experiment in the United States, we find that framing a salient transgender advocacy issue—transgender participation in sports—within a broader LGBT+ legal rights framework increases public support for transgender inclusion in sports. There is a nearly 10 percentage-point increase in support, including among partisan Republicans, when transgender rights in sports are preceded by priming and framing around the more general LGBT+ rights struggle. Our results underscore the importance of broader LGBT+ rights advocacy to public acceptance of the transgender community.

Type
Article
Information
PS: Political Science & Politics , First View , pp. 1 - 7
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2025. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of American Political Science Association

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