The number of U.S. adults who affirm only two gender identities has increased in recent years, according to a Public Religion Research Institute report published June 8.
In its 2023 survey, PRRI found that 65% of respondents say, “there are only two gender identities, man and woman.” This is a three-point increase from 2022 and a six-point increase from 2021.
Of this total, 50% “feel strongly that there are only two genders, man or woman,” while 15% say they “think there are only two genders, but do not feel strongly about it.” By comparison, 20% say they “think there is a range of many gender identities, but do not feel strongly about it,” and 14% “feel strongly that there is a range of many possible gender identities.”
Significant differences were seen when analyzing responses based on political affiliation, with 90% of Republicans saying there are only two genders (up three points from 2021), compared to 66% of Independents (up six points) and 44% of Democrats (up six points).
Save for three groups, all religious traditions included in the data analysis saw an increase in the number of 2023 respondents who say there are only two genders compared to the 2021 results. Black Protestants saw a two-point decline to 71% in those affirming this view, while Latter-day Saints saw a one-point decline to 81% and the percentage of Jewish respondents was unchanged at 44%.
The other eight traditions had more respondents in 2023 than in 2021 affirm that there are only two genders. White evangelical Protestants had the highest overall percentage (92%) affirm this position, followed by Hispanic Protestants (81%), other Protestants of color (73%), white Catholics (69%), white mainline Protestants (67%), Hispanic Catholics (66%), non-Christian faith traditions (55%) and the religiously unaffiliated (46%).
Other Protestants of color saw the greatest change from 2021 to 2023 with a 21-point increase, followed by Hispanic Catholics (up 18 points), non-Christians (up 13 points), religiously unaffiliated (up eight points), white Catholics (up seven points), white evangelical Protestants (up six points), Hispanic Protestants (up two points) and white mainline Protestants (up two points).
White evangelical Protestants have the highest percentage of respondents (82%) who “feel strongly that there are only two genders, man or woman,” followed by Latter-day Saints (72%), Hispanic Protestant (70%), Black Protestant (58%), other Protestant of color (55%), Hispanic Catholic (52%), white Catholic (51%), white mainline Protestant (50%), other non-Christian religion (42%), Jewish (32%) and religiously unaffiliated (30%).
While all generations saw an increase from 2021 to 2023, older respondents were generally more likely than younger respondents to affirm only two genders: Generation X (71%), silent generation (69% affirmation), Baby boomers (68%), Millennials (60%) and Generation Z (57%).
“The definition of gender has become a high-profile and controversial topic in the public discourse in recent years, receiving significant conservative media attention,” said Melissa Deckman, CEO of PRRI, in a June 8 press release. “We’re seeing a hardening of position in support of a gender binary nationally, informed largely by partisanship and news consumption. It’s those who feel the most strongly about gender who are driving these conversations.”
The full report is available here. The topline results are available here.
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