Most Britons say that schools should teach about different gender identities

[IwantToRetire]

The results suggest around three in ten Britons don’t want teaching about gender identity issues to take place in school: 29% said that schools should not teach that people can be transgender / change their gender identity, and 31% said they should not tell children that people can be non-binary / identify as a gender other than male or female.

Among parents of a child younger than 18, around a quarter (25-26%) say these subjects should not be covered. The views of parents across the study closely mirror those of the wider public.

Across all groups, the biggest differences are on gender identity topics. Women, younger people, and Labour voters are notably more likely to say that transgender and non-binary identities should be covered in sex education than their male, older and Tory voting counterparts.

Men and women don’t tend to differ much on most other topics, although women (81%) are slightly more likely to say that sexual identity should be taught in school than men (74%).

The results show that there is only one topic that men (71%) are more noticeably likely than women (65%) to say should be included in sex education: explicit discussions of sexual acts.

YouGov Survey Results
Sample Size: 2003 GB Adults
Fieldwork: 15th - 16th May 2024

More detailed responses and charts at https://yougov.co.uk/politics/articles/49445-should-pupils-be-taught-about-gender-identity-in-schools

(NB this is not the same as the YouGov chat survey where a self selected group answered an online survey https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/womens_rights/5076134-government-tells-schools-to-teach-biological-sex-and-contest-gender-ideology-do-you-support-this-yougov-daily-survey)

15/16/17 year olds?

Sure..

3/4/5/6/7/8/9 year olds?

Nah..

I'm not sure what age should learn about gender identities tbh.
One thing they shouldn't ever be taught though is that humans can change sex.

Should sex education be taught to children before Year 5?

With the government’s policy to not teach sex education before Year 5, the results show that few Britons feel that any of the topics we asked about should be taught before this point either. The biggest exception is ‘How to stay safe, including “appropriate boundaries” and how to report concerns’, which 32% say should be taught before Year 5.

One in five (21%) think that teaching about gay and bisexual people should begin before Year 5, and 20% said grooming should be covered before then as well.

In fact, in pretty much all cases, where adults think a concept should be covered in sex education the most common point from which they say that should take place is Year 7.

There is nothing to teach - biologically there are only two genders and that's it. This country is going down the hill seriously...a confusing generation being brought up for no good reason.

I get these surveys but didn’t receive that one. How do they decide who to send to?

I’m surprised at these results tbh.

Ditto and ditto.....I was half expecting to see that this was a survey paid for by eg Stonewall but carried out by YouGov. It isn't representative of the views of people I talk to (incl young people - I have 4 DCs)!

Yes, I've been on YouGov survey list for years. I never ever get anything like this.

Maybe somehow they have tagged us as "not worthy of respect" or something.

It drives me wild. My only consolation is that over the years i have built up a little nest egg, and keep thinking I should cash it in before they change terms and conditions.

(sorry for thread derail)

Sample Size: 2003 GB Adults

Not sure of total number of adults in GB, but surely 2003 is a tiny %? The likelihood that they have got representative views of age groups, sex, race, class etc., seems highly unlikely doesn't it?

I doubt it is even 1%.

I’m on the YouGov list as well and also never get asked about anything interesting like this. I suspect some of the response will have been because the questions were confusing.

The survey results actually seem way more socially conservative than I would have expected.
On most topics, most people thought they shouldn't be covered till secondary school.

I'm going to have to stop reading about this stuff because it's driving me bonkers.
What do people have in mind when they say children younger than eight need to be taught about gay and bisexual people? Hold up a cardboard picture of Graham Norton, "Look kids, this is a gay!" ? Get any same-sex parents of kids at the school to parade around the quadrangle during assembly like performing monkeys?
If your kids aren't meeting and hanging out with gay men and lesbian women in your day to day life just accept they're a little sheltered and know they'll meet plenty of gay and bi people in time. Don't turn people who aren't heterosexual into some kind of novelty act.
Or do they see the question and read "should teachers not expunge any mention of gay and bisexual people in Y1-4?" ?
My little one starts school next year and I really wish I felt I could trust the system. Instead I'm gradually accepting I have to be willing to be that parent.
I'm sorry, teachers, I know your job is hard. But I'm another fly-in-the-ointment in waiting here.

I'd like to see the questions asked and quite how they were worded before I comment on the results

Might be this one where TT had the same thought

x.com/transgendertrd/status/1791447376709681462?s=46&t=WHoOZ_3Kv5G6-FyQuvE0LQ

I never get asked this sort of thing either. I'be recently turned down several surveys that seemed determined to get me to involve my children in their market research, though - maybe I'm now off their list.

that transgender and non-binary identities should be covered in sex education

///

I think lots of people seem to think that sexual orientation is the same as gender (which isn't actual real ... you can literally make this up as you go along) identification.

They are two different things.

I think there’s a big difference between teaching teens that: (a) some people suffer from dysphoria and should not be discriminated against because of that, and we should all be able to wear what we want and enjoy the (legal) things we enjoy (true); and (b) we all have a gender identity which automatically trumps biological sex (false).

@LilyBartsHatShop as a lesbian mum I certainly don’t want to be paraded but DC did have a few playground interactions that upset her because she has two mums. I think that it was mostly coming from a place of curiosity. So, for that reason only it‘s nice if schools can do a bit on there being all different kinds of families and few books with different family make ups in them. But I don’t think there needs to be any more than that in primary schools.

Ditto. I get YouGov surveys most days but this one didn’t materialise - funny that

'The views of parents across the study closely mirror those of the wider public.'

Do they? really? how do we know that?

There will have been bias and nuance in the questions depending on who funded the study. YouGov polls are not carefully designed to be careful not to lead the respondents' answers but precisely the opposite.

Children should certainly be taught that some people identify as trans. They should certainly be taught that the sexist stereotypes associated with their sex do not have to apply to them and they have every right to live free of them. They should also be taught that biological reality is not flexible and doesn't change with surgery. They should be taught critical thinking and the dangers of believing the magical-fantasy wishfulfilment "logic" that they will doubtless encounter from people who believe that a thought in their heads can change external factual reality. They should not be taught that they can choose for themselves whether they are a girl or a boy.

Sample Size: 2003 GB Adults

With a sample of 2000 you can get any old crazy results. That's TINY!! I don't know a single person who wants this nonsense being rammed down DC's throats, as if it's fact. Not one! And to extrapolate such a tiny sample to nationwide size is absurd.

Ditto.
I never get asked anything interesting or even vaguely political. It's mostly questions about what I have watched on TV.

71% of men and 64% of women say that sex education should include more explicit discussion of sexual acts

Who are these people?!

Gender has nothing to do with biology though, other than it is constructed on the basis of the 2 biological sexes. Kids should be taught facts - there are 2 sexes and nobody can change sex. There are people that believe in gender identity and people that dont. Policy should be based on sex regardless of how people can identify in terms of gender & belief in gender or not are legitimate beliefs in a democratic society but no-one can force you to believe.

The sample size isn't too bad, if selected to represent a wide demographic.

The issue is likely to be in the interpretation of the questions, e.g. do you think gender identity should be taught?

Yes to "some people believe a feeling of maleness or femaleness is more significant than your actual sex this is called gender identity"
No to "if you like pink and playing with dolls you are obviously female, you're sexed body is just an inconvenience you have to bring into line with medication and surgery"

Not directly commenting about the stat, just generally wondering:

How many males are in the 'women' category of the people they asked? And how stringent are yougov sign ups? Is it self ID at sign up? If so, makes this survey pretty questionable.