Key facts
- Washington, Colorado, Arizona and Nebraska approved measures on transgender athletes or gender-affirming care for minors.
- Democrats retook control of Congress nationwide in the same midterm elections, the report said.
- Washington, Colorado and Arizona also elected Democrats to a majority of their state and federal seats.
- A Reuters/Ipsos poll in April found 67% backed banning transgender athletes from female school sports.
- Twenty-seven states had laws restricting transgender participation in youth sports before the vote, per the Movement Advancement Project.
- Alabama and Michigan elected transgender state lawmakers for the first time, the report said.
Voters in Washington, Colorado, Arizona and Nebraska approved ballot measures restricting transgender rights in the November 3 midterm elections, even as Democrats won nationwide and retook control of Congress, Reuters reported on November 7.
The measures prohibit transgender children from playing on sports teams matching their gender identity or ban gender-affirming surgeries for minors. Three of the four states, Washington, Colorado and Arizona, also elected Democrats to a majority of their state and federal seats.
Rachel Tomlinson Dick, executive director of the LGBTQ advocacy group Out Nebraska, called the measures' success "disheartening" and said the group expects similar measures on future ballots.
Lanae Erickson, senior vice president at the centrist think tank Third Way, said midterm candidates blunted Republican attacks by emphasizing fairness and rules in sports. She said the results show Democrats still need a message that appeals to a broad public. "This week has shown us that Democrats have found effective ways to counter the anti-trans attacks when it comes to candidates, but that doesn't necessarily mean that they've done the work to persuade voters on the issues," said Erickson, who consulted with Democratic midterm candidates on their approach to transgender issues.
A Reuters/Ipsos poll in April found 67% of respondents supported banning transgender people from competing in female school sports. Ninety-two percent of Republicans backed such bans, compared with 44% of Democrats.
Critics warned that moving toward Republicans on transgender issues is unlikely to win Democrats new support and risks alienating LGBTQ voters and the party's progressive wing. The Democratic National Committee did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Lexi Koren, a communications consultant for No Hate in WA State, a coalition that opposed Washington's two ballot measures, said the Democratic surge, including support for Michigan's Abdul El-Sayed, who backed transgender rights, showed the limits of the Republican strategy. "It was a resounding failure," she said.
Two other ballot measures on transgender issues were defeated. One, in Washington state, would have expanded parental access to school records, potentially letting parents learn about a student's gender identity against the child's will. The other, in Missouri, would have prohibited gender-affirming care for minors and repealed the right to abortion.