A new Gallup poll is showing that American support for biological men in female sports is on the decline. According to the poll, 69% of US adults believe that athletes should only play in sports based on their birth sex, while another 66% believe birth sex should be listed on government documents over gender identity. When broken down by political parties, 9 out of 10 Republicans supported policies that were based on biological sex while only 4 in 10 Democrats did. A slim majority of Democrats (54%) supported government documents listing a person’s gender identity over their biological sex, but less than half (45%) supported transgender athletes playing on sports teams that align with their gender identity.

According to Gallup, these results point to a continued decline supporting transgender policies. In 2021, 34% of US adults believed that transgender individuals should be allowed to play on the team that matched their gender identity. By 2025, however, that had dropped 10 points to 24%. The change mainly occurred in Democrats and Independents, with Republicans remaining steadily on the side of biological sex throughout the years. During the last four years, the number of US adults who believe changing one’s gender is morally acceptable has also decreased from 46% in 2021 to 40% in 2025. Republicans showed the sharpest drop in believing it was morally acceptable, dropping from 22% to just 9%.

While positive views on transgender issues have declined, the poll did find that views on gay and lesbian issues. Overall, 64% of US adults found gay and lesbian relations morally acceptable. Breaking down by political group, 86% of Democrats agreed, while 69% and 38% of Independents and Republicans agreed, respectively. Half of US adults stated they believed being transgender was more caused by nurture than nature, while 38% said the same about being gay or lesbian.

The results reflect a cultural shift away from support of transgender policies, most likely due to efforts by Republicans under Donald Trump to highlight issues of allowing biological men to play sports against biological women. The Daily Wire’s Matt Walsh-led documentary, “What is a Woman?” brought the issue to a broader audience that exposed some of the real traumas detransitioners were facing after elective mastectomies as well as the seemingly impossible way to answer the question of what a woman actually is. In her recent spat with women’s advocate Riley Gaines, Simone Biles found herself having to offer up a public apology after being blasted on social media for her support of men in female sports. In a New York Times poll, the data found that 79% of Americans opposed men playing in women’s sports. The poll also came just before the Supreme Court upheld a Tennessee ban against transgender surgeries on minors. “With the SCOTUS decision today, there is no excuse for Republicans. They must pass

@RepMTG’s bill banning child gender transitions nationwide,” wrote Matt Walsh, referencing a bill by Marjorie Taylor Greene to federally ban all transgender surgeries on minors. “Absolutely no tolerance for failure on this issue. Let’s see this thing through to the end. Finish the child butchery industry once and for all.”