The findings of the poll, conducted by 19th News, also reveal that most voters do not believe politicians have enough knowledge of transgender and “gender-affirming care” issues to craft policy restricting its use on children.

Republican legislators across the country have moved to restrict access to gender-affirming care or discussion of trans issues in schools, but it’s not a key focus for most Americans. Overall, just 17 percent of Americans, and 29 percent of Republicans, say politicians should focus on restricting gender-affirming care. Almost 6 in 10 Democrats (59 percent) prefer politicians to protect trans people, compared with a third of the general public.

Most Americans — again, regardless of party identification — do not think politicians are informed enough about gender-affirming care for minors to make fair policy. There is a divide, however, when people are asked about the rights of adults vs. minors to access gender-affirming care: Most Americans favor the right of adults to access such care but over half oppose the right for minors. The majority of LGBTQ+ Americans support gender-affirming care for both adults (84 percent) and minors (70 percent).

It is worth noting that there is reason not to completely trust these results, as my colleague Brandon Morse noted:

To be clear, these numbers should be taken with a grain of salt. The 19th* appears to be a left-leaning organization focusing on women's rights and gender politics. It's biased toward women and its inclusion of writers and staff that come from leftist rags like Mother Jones. According to the site, it takes its name from the 19th Amendment but adds an asterisk to its name to indicate that "suffrage remains a work in progress for many in this country, particularly people living in states where voter suppression exists and tens of thousands of transgender Americans who face barriers to voting."

Their clear bias toward the hard left makes some of these findings all the more peculiar, namely that the people they interviewed didn't want politicians doing anything about transgender issues for the most part. Moreover, it's interesting how they couched it.

Still, if there is even a modicum of truth to this study, then we should take it as an indication that we must do more to inform the public about the dangers of “gender-affirming care” among children – and even adults. This isn’t an easy undertaking given the widespread effort to censor any material that does not go along with the progressive agenda when it comes to children. But the stakes are far too high for us not to continue educating people.

The reality is that “gender-affirming care” is not beneficial for children, contrary to the narrative folks on the left have been spinning. High-profile leftists have deceptively argued that studies show that giving puberty blockers to children and putting them through irreversible surgeries is a benefit to their mental health. But medical professionals have pointed out that there isn’t nearly enough evidence to show that these treatments work.

On the other hand, opponents of “gender-affirming care” argue that the evidence for the mental health benefits of hormonal interventions for minors is of low certainty, and the risks, including sterility and lifelong dependence on medication, should be considered. WSJ published another letter on Thursday repudiating Hammes’ arguments:

As experienced professionals involved in direct care for the rapidly growing numbers of gender-diverse youth, the evaluation of medical evidence or both, we were surprised by the Endocrine Society’s claims about the state of evidence for gender-affirming care for youth (Letters, July 5). Stephen Hammes, president of the Endocrine Society, writes, “More than 2,000 studies published since 1975 form a clear picture: Gender-affirming care improves the well-being of transgender and gender-diverse people and reduces the risk of suicide.” This claim is not supported by the best available evidence.

Every systematic review of evidence to date, including one published in the Journal of the Endocrine Society, has found the evidence for mental-health benefits of hormonal interventions for minors to be of low or very low certainty. By contrast, the risks are significant and include sterility, lifelong dependence on medication and the anguish of regret. For this reason, more and more European countries and international professional organizations now recommend psychotherapy rather than hormones and surgeries as the first line of treatment for gender-dysphoric youth.

Dr. Hammes’s claim that gender transition reduces suicides is contradicted by every systematic review, including the review published by the Endocrine Society, which states, “We could not draw any conclusions about death by suicide.” There is no reliable evidence to suggest that hormonal transition is an effective suicide-prevention measure.

The letter, which was signed by 21 medical professionals, also lamented the “politicization of transgender healthcare in the U.S.” but argued that the most effective way to address it is “for medical societies to align their recommendations with the best available evidence—rather than exaggerating the benefits and minimizing the risks.”

Numerous European nations like the United Kingdom, Finland, France, and Denmark have moved away from the “gender-affirming care” model and are focusing more on talk therapy to help kids who are suffering from gender dysphoria.

If people do not believe that this is an important issue, it is because they are not aware of how extensive the damage is to young children – especially after they become adults and regret it. Indeed, the growing number of detransitioners, and the lawsuits they are filing against their medical professionals, show that “gender-affirming care” does far more harm than good. Of course, elite media will never tell the public the truth about these tragic cases, so it falls on us to do the work.