Misgendering Should Be a Crime, According to Millennials

More millennials think referring to a transgender person by the wrong pronouns should be a criminal offense than think it should be legal, according to new polling conducted exclusively for Newsweek.

According to the survey by Redfield & Wilton Strategies, 44 percent of those aged 25-34 think "referring to someone by the wrong gender pronoun (he/him, she/her) should be a criminal offense," versus just 31 percent who disagree. The remainder "neither agree nor disagree" or "don't know."

This view remains popular for those aged 35-44, among whom 38 percent think misgendering should be illegal, whilst 35 percent disagree and 26 percent either don't know or didn't express an opinion.

The rights of transgender people, whose gender identity doesn't match the sex they were given at birth, and the corresponding impact on women's rights, has developed into a hot political issue across the United States. Republican-controlled states have passed a string of laws impacting transgender people, such as banning sex change operations and hormone treatments for minors.

According to Pew Research Center, a millennial is someone born between 1981 and 1996, making them between 27 and 42 years old today. The organization defines Generation Z as being born between 1997 and 2012, meaning they would now be between 11 and 26 years in age. Thus among both survey age categories that contain millennials, more people think misgendering should be illegal than legal.

The poll of 1,500 eligible voters in the United States was conducted by Redfield & Wilton Strategies, for Newsweek, on July 6.

However the figure for millennials contrasts starkly with that for Americans as a whole, among whom just 19 percent want misgendering to be a criminal offense, whilst 65 percent disagree, 12 percent "neither agree nor disagree" and four percent answered "don't know."

Notably Generation Z Americans aged 18-24, who can vote, are notably less keen on making misgendering a crime than the older millennials. Among this group, 33 percent think calling someone by the wrong pronoun should be a criminal offense, while 48 percent disagree and the remainder answer either "neither" or "don't know."

More Americans said they would refer to both transgender men and women by their requested pronouns than would refuse to do so, according to the survey. In total 37 percent said they would call someone who was previously male "she/her" if requested, with 17 percent saying they would continue to use "he/his," 28 percent saying it "depends on the person" and 17 percent answering "don't know."

The figures were similar for someone born female who wanted to be referred to as he/him, with 38 percent saying they would follow the request, 18 percent indicating they would refuse, 27 percent stating it "depends on the person" and the remainder unsure.

Representative Tim Burchett, a Tennessee Republican, proposed an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act that would require transgender men to be eligible for the military draft, though House Republicans decided not to push this to a vote this week.

Elsewhere, Rikkie Valerie Kollé on July 8 became the first transgender woman to be crowned Miss Netherlands, and will now head to El Salvador in December to compete in the Miss Universe contest.

Speaking to Newsweek about the backlash she received, Kollé said: "Wishing me dead and telling me to suicide, those things are terrible to write, but at the same it's only lifting me up because I get a bigger platform than I could ever dream of."