A majority of people in Lancaster do not agree that children should be free to choose their gender, new research on attitudes across Great Britain shows.
That’s according to a nationwide poll of 21,000 people carried out by the publisher UnHerd in association with pollster FocalData, which found that more than a third of the British public support the rights of transgender children.
But Unherd said the results show the debate about gender is far from resolved.
Participants were asked how much they agreed with the statement “it is acceptable for adolescent children to make their own decisions about their gender identity”.
The responses were then analysed to create a model for each constituency, based on the characteristics of people living there, including age, voting record and employment status.
Of the two constituencies that are in or cross over into Lancaster, the one considered to be the most trans-friendly was Lancaster and Fleetwood – 40 per cent support gender freedom for children, compared to 28 per cent who do not, with the rest undecided.
Of these, nine per cent strongly agree with the statement, while 31 per cent said they simply agree.
The constituencies were ranked based on how many agree versus disagree, with the top ranking being considered the most supportive of gender freedom.
Lancaster and Fleetwood placed 131st out of 632 constituencies – not including the 18 constituencies in Northern Ireland.
In the constituency of Morecambe and Lunesdale, meanwhile, just 33 per cent of people were pro-trans rights, compared to 26 per cent who were not – placing it at 250th nationwide.
Across Britain as a whole, 37 per cent of people think children should be able to make decisions about their gender, 30 per cent do not, and 33 per cent do not have an opinion either way.
Bethnal Green and Bow, in London, was the most supportive, with 52 per cent agreeing and 15 per cent disagreeing.
Only seven constituencies had more than half of people in agreement.
James Kirkup, from Unherd, said the poll showed public opinion on the issue did not follow conventional party lines, with traditional Labour and Conservative areas both split.
He said: “The politics of transgenderism are under-explored for several reasons. Politicians’ timidity in the face of activists’ ferocity is one big factor.
“But there’s another – that it’s a fiendishly complex issue that doesn’t fit easily into the narratives and categories that structure so much of British political debate.
“This poll shows that the debate about gender in 21st-century Britain is not just unresolved. It has yet to even begin in earnest.”
