Iowa Poll: More Iowans support schools requiring bathroom use to match person's birth gender than oppose it

Nick Coltrain
Des Moines Register

© Copyright 2021, Des Moines Register and Tribune Co.

More Iowans favor than oppose requiring public school students to use bathrooms that correspond with their birth-assigned gender, regardless of current gender identity, the latest Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa Poll found.

The poll, conducted by Selzer & Co., found 47% of Iowans favor such a rule, 42% oppose the requirement, and 11% are not sure. The poll sampled 775 Iowans age 18 or older and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.

The results fall along political lines, with 80% of Republicans in favor of the restriction, and 14% opposed; among Democrats, 15% favor the restriction, while 71% oppose it.

A majority of men favor the restriction, 60%, with 30% opposed, while a majority of women oppose it, 54%, with 35% in favor.

Among Iowans with children in public schools, the totals resemble the population as a whole, with 49% in favor of the restriction, and 43% opposed.

Poll respondent Eric TeGrootenhuis, a Republican, agrees with restricting bathroom use to one’s birth-assigned gender.

“God gave you certain parts, and those are the parts you’re supposed to live with,” said TeGrootenhuis, 57, of Larchwood.

He said he’s concerned that allowing students to use restrooms that don’t correspond to their gender at birth would be "just asking for trouble.” Teenagers in particular have surging hormones, and allowing students to use bathrooms unaligned with their birth gender would lead to them getting picked on, he said.

Neither national nor local authorities have reported any problems with allowing people to use the restrooms that match their identities. 

Poll respondent Tracy Harrison, 57, a Democrat from Clinton, said she understands concerns parents may have about a student born male but identifying as a woman using the same restroom as their daughters, for example. But ultimately, people must support and accept each other, she said.

Speaking generally, “there’s already a stirring of hate in this country that’s unbelievable,” Harrison said. She hoped people would learn to get along and be compassionate toward each other.

“These poor kids are being ostracized at school, they probably can’t go to church, they can’t function as a human being because they’re too busy trying to hide their gender and who they truly are, which is heartbreaking for any human being,” she said.

Iowa Republicans ran a bill this legislative session requiring people in Iowa schools to use bathrooms that correspond with the sex listed on their birth certificate.

It passed through a Senate subcommittee, a first for such a bill in Iowa after similar legislation had been proposed for several years. But the bill failed to proceed further.

About this poll 

The Iowa Poll, conducted March 7-10, 2021, for the Des Moines Register and Mediacom by Selzer & Co. of Des Moines, is based on telephone interviews with 775 Iowans ages 18 or older. Interviewers with Quantel Research contacted households with randomly selected landline and cell phone numbers supplied by Dynata. Interviews were administered in English. Responses were adjusted by age, sex and congressional district to reflect the general population based on recent American Community Survey estimates. 

Questions based on the sample of 775 Iowa adults have a maximum margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points. This means that if this survey were repeated using the same questions and the same methodology, 19 times out of 20, the findings would not vary from the true population value by more than plus or minus 3.5 percentage points. Results based on smaller samples of respondents — such as by gender or age — have a larger margin of error. 

Republishing the copyright Iowa Poll without credit to the Des Moines Register and Mediacom is prohibited. 

Nick Coltrain is a politics and data reporter for the Register. Reach him at ncoltrain@registermedia.com or at 515-284-8361.