In recent years, Oklahoma has been at the forefront of states that have prohibited males from participating in women’s sports as “transgender women” and made it illegal to perform sex-change surgeries on children.

Opponents claimed those laws would cause people to leave Oklahoma and prompt businesses to avoid the state.

But a new poll shows three in four voters nationwide agree with the policies enacted in Oklahoma, meaning state policymakers were giving voice to the concerns of people nationwide, not offending their social sensibilities.

In 2022, Oklahoma lawmakers made it illegal for males to compete in women’s sporting events.

In 2023, the Oklahoma Legislature made it illegal to perform sex-change surgeries on children or provide children with cross-sex hormones or puberty blockers.

A recent survey of 1,000 registered voters, conducted online by Scott Rasmussen and RMG Research for the Napolitan News Service, found that 75 percent of voters nationwide oppose allowing “biological males who identify as women” to “participate in women’s sports events.” Only 13 percent of voters were in favor of allowing men to participate in women’s sports.

Opposition has increased since February 2022 when 64 percent of voters opposed allowing men to participate in women’s sports.

Growing opposition may be due, in part, to increased awareness of the negative impact on women, which in one prominent case involved severe injuries to a girl who faced off against a male opponent.

A recent United Nations report, “Violence against women and girls, its causes and consequences,” noted that hundreds of female athletes have been deprived of medals due to facing male opponents in women’s sports.

“Policies implemented by international federations and national governing bodies, along with national legislation in some countries, allow males who identify as women to compete in female sports categories. In other cases, this practice is not explicitly prohibited and is thus tolerated in practice,” the report stated. “The replacement of the female sports category with a mixed-sex category has resulted in an increasing number of female athletes losing opportunities, including medals, when competing against males. According to information received, by 30 March 2024, over 600 female athletes in more than 400 competitions have lost more than 890 medals in 29 different sports.”

The poll found that 68 percent of voters believe allowing biological males to compete in women’s sports denies opportunities to women.

Similarly, the poll found that 72 percent of voters nationwide believe it should be “against the law to provide children under 18 with puberty blockers, drugs, and/or surgery to help them transition from one gender to another.”

Only 18 percent believed it should be legal to perform sex-change surgeries on children.

Opposition has increased from 64 percent in June 2023.

State Rep. Toni Hasenbeck, an Elgin Republican and former teacher who was an author of both state laws, said her willingness to advance those measures despite vocal opposition sprang from “having a variety of experiences and dealing with a variety of people.”

She said the fact that voters nationwide now agree with the policies Oklahoma already has in place shows lawmakers can trust their gut.

“That was just something that was the right thing to do, and it didn’t seem controversial,” Hasenbeck said. “And so the fact that we kind of led on that, it causes me to dig my heels in a little bit deeper on (other) stuff. If it’s something that I have thought about for 10 years before I got into office, maybe it’s something I need to stick to my guns and make sure that we get it done.”

The poll also found that 75 percent of voters oppose allowing biological males who identify as women to use women’s locker rooms, showers, and bathrooms, and 62 percent believe men who identify as women should not be allowed to use the same shelters for victims of sexual assault and domestic violence as biological women.

In addition, 68 percent of voters say lessons about exploring or changing gender identity should not be taught in public schools, and 73 percent say school officials should be required to notify a parent if a child wants to change his or her gender, name, and pronouns.

The survey of 1,000 registered voters was conducted online by Scott Rasmussen on November 13, 2024. Field work for the survey was conducted by RMG Research, Inc.