According to a poll released today by Monmouth University, a majority of New Jerseyans, including parents, approve of teaching about gender identity in high school, but are less supportive of doing so in middle school and are broadly opposed to discussing this in elementary school. They also feel that sex education class attendance, use of bathrooms, and participation on sports teams for transgender students should be based on a student’s assigned sex at birth and not their current gender identity.

This puts the majority of New Jersey parents and residents at odds with recent decisions by the Murphy Administration’s Department of Education and lawsuits filed by Attorney General Matthew Platkin.

While a majority of New Jerseyans (60%) approve of teaching students in grades 9 through 12 about “the range of ways people express their gender,” support dips below a majority for doing this in grades 6 through 8 (42%) and drops to less than one-quarter for grades 1 through 5 (22%). Parent and nonparent opinion is similar on these questions.

“It does seem clear that a large cross section of New Jerseyans are uncomfortable with discussing these issues in elementary school even though the state has different gender identity education standards for various grade levels. An open question is to what extent those distinctions are understood by the public,” said Patrick Murray, director of the independent Monmouth University Polling Institute.

Also, 77% of New Jersey voters feel middle and high schools should be required to notify parents if their child wants to be identified by a different gender than what is on their school registration. Some districts have passed policies to do so, although last week Superior Court Judge Judge David F. Bauman issued an injunction on those policies passed by Middletown Township, Marlboro Township, and Manalapan-Englishtown Regional boards of education.

While the majority of both Republicans and Democrats believe schools should be required to notify parents in these cases, there is a difference within party affiliations: 92% of Republicans and 61% of Democrats. support notifications.

Even if notifications aren’t required, 53% of state residents say the school should let parents know. Forty-one percent say “this is something students and parents should deal with on their own.” Among parents of minors, 81% say schools should require
notification of gender identity requests by students and 59% feel schools should still let parents know even if it is not a requirement.

When it comes to student athletics, a majority of the state feels that transgender students should play on teams with students of the same gender as their birth-assigned sex. These results are similar in separate questions about participation on sports teams for transgender students who were recorded as male (64%) or female (59%) on their birth certificates.

“Most New Jerseyans, like most Americans, do not recognize transgender identity in a broad sense. This is reflected in how they view these issues being dealt with in schools,” said Murray.

By a 54%-27% margin, New Jersey adults want boys and girls in separate classes based on their birth gender assignment during sex education classes, and by a 58%-28% margin, New Jerseyans say bathroom usage should be based on birth gender if boys and girls facilities are the only ones available; 55% support gender-inclusive bathrooms in schools.

The Monmouth University Poll was conducted between August 10-14 with a sample size of 814 New Jersey adults and a margin of error of +/1 5.4%.