Trans Visibility, Connection, and Support

Summary

Despite a wave of anti-transgender laws and policies at the state and federal level, new findings from a survey conducted by SRSS show that most Americans broadly support transgender equality — and this holds true across party, race and ethnicity, and gender, including majority support among Republicans. 

The survey, commissioned in February 2026 by the Human Rights Campaign Foundation, also shows support for equal treatment and protections increases among those who know transgender people — especially those who speak with them regularly.

More Americans also know a transgender person than previous national measures captured.  The new survey data find that 41.2% of U.S. adults say they know someone who is transgender.

Large majorities of Americans support equal rights and protections for transgender Americans (85%), as well as equal access to healthcare (89%), workplace protections (79%), and protections for transgender students (83%).

Contact strengthens that support further. While only 27% of Americans report regular conversations with a transgender person, those who do are consistently more likely to support equality across all four measures.

Background on contact and public attitudes

Previous research has found that knowing a transgender person is often associated with more positive attitudes and greater support for transgender-inclusive policies. Some studies also suggest that the nature of that relationship matters: closer, more meaningful contact may have a stronger effect than distant or incidental exposure.

Broader visibility may matter as well. Exposure to LGBTQ people, issues, and media representation can shape public attitudes over time and may help explain why familiarity and support often move together.

This survey builds on that body of research by testing not only whether people know a transgender person, but also how often they are in conversation with one. That distinction offers a fuller picture of the role that connection may play in public opinion.

Americans are more connected to transgender people than previously measured

Understanding public attitudes toward transgender people begins with understanding exposure. Using an improved measurement approach, this survey finds that 41.2% of U.S. adults know a transgender person—higher than earlier national estimates suggested.  This higher estimate likely reflects a more complete measure of contact, one that captures a broader range of relationships, from family and friends to coworkers and acquaintances, and accounts for differences in closeness.

At the same time, regular interaction is less common. Just 27% report speaking with a transgender person at least once a month. That distinction matters: familiarity may be relatively widespread, but meaningful, recurring contact remains less common.

Together, these findings suggest that earlier measures may not have fully captured the extent of Americans’ contact with transgender people. Better measurement offers a fuller picture of how common that connection may be.

Conclusion

These survey results point to two clear conclusions. First, support for transgender equality is already broad across the country. Second, personal connection matters: people who know transgender people—and especially those who speak with them regularly—are even more likely to support equal treatment and protections.

For Transgender Day of Visibility, that finding carries a simple message: visibility matters, and so does connection. The more transgender people are known not as abstractions, but as friends, family members, coworkers, classmates, and neighbors, the stronger public support for equality becomes.

Methodology

Data come from SSRS’s Opinion Panel Omnibus platform. The SSRS Opinion Panel Omnibus is a national, twice-per-month, probability-based survey. Data collection was conducted from February 20 through February 23, 2026, among a sample of 1,032 respondents. The survey was conducted via the web (n=1,002) and by telephone (n=30), and administered in English (n=1,005) and Spanish (n=27). The margin of error for total respondents is +/-3.5 percentage points at the 95% confidence level. Logistic regression controls for age, gender, education, race/ethnicity, region, party identification, and work/employment status, and the respondent’s beliefs about the origins of transgender identity. Knowing a transgender person means the respondent selected “Yes, we’re very close,” “Yes, we’re somewhat close,” OR “Yes, but we’re not very close” for AT LEAST ONE of the relationships (family member, friend, coworker, acquaintance). Having regular conversations with a transgender person (regular contact) is operationalized as the respondent selecting “Once a week or more” OR “About once a month” to having conversations with a transgender person in the past year. See this document for methodology and toplines.