Three Takes: Missouri Voter Opinion on LGBTQ+ Issues in Schools

The results of the August SLU/YouGov Poll were released today highlighting key assessments of Missouri public opinion on education and political issues. LGBTQ+ issues were one of the focuses for both areas. In this blog, we highlight three takeaways about Missouri public opinion regarding the discussion of LGBTQ+ issues in schools and policies affecting LGBTQ+ students.

1. Voters do not support banning books with stories about gay, lesbian, or transgendered youth. The August 2023 SLU/YouGov Poll found that only 33% of Missouri voters favor banning “books with stories about gay or lesbian youth” from public schools, and only 38% favored banning “books with stories about transgendered youth.” Results indicate a strong partisan divide with Republicans more likely to favor banning books and Democrats more likely to oppose.

2. Voters favor discussions of sexual orientation and gender identity in high schools, but oppose these discussions in elementary and middle schools. Fifty-six percent of voters favor allowing public schools to discuss sexual orientation issues with high school students. However, only 18% favor allowing such discussions in elementary schools, and 38% favor such discussions in middle schools. Similarly, fifty-one percent of voters favor public schools being allowed to discuss gender identity issues with students in high school, but only 19% and 34% of voters favor allowing such discussions in elementary and middle schools.

3. Voters oppose transgendered athletes playing on teams that match their gender identity. The SLU/YouGov Poll found two-thirds of Missourians oppose transgendered athletes playing on teams that match gender identity indicating an overall alignment with the Senate Bill 39 Governor Parson recently signed into law. Views on this issue indicated a partisan divide, similar to views on other LGBTQ+ issues. Nearly all Republicans opposed (95%) transgender student athletes playing on teams that match gender identity, while only 29% of Democrats opposed. Interestingly, voters were more likely to be unsure about gender-affirming student athletics policies than other LGBTQ+ issues, suggesting that further education on this issue could be helpful. Overall, responses to this question were similar to those from the SLU/YouGov Poll in February 2023.

A key takeaway from these results on LGBTQ+ issues is the misalignment of laws or previously proposed legislation with public opinion. The current law (Senate Bill 775) banning public and private school officials from sexually explicit material has forced school libraries to remove hundreds of books—most of which were written by or about LGBTQ+ individuals or individuals of color—despite voter support to the contrary. Additionally, previously proposed legislation (Missouri’s version of “Don’t Say Gay”) intended to ban discussions of sexual orientation and gender identity at all levels, despite public support of space for these discussions in high schools.. Future legislation should consider voters’ opinions, which favor these discussions at the high school level, and work to find a compromise.

Check out our blog on Three Things Missouri Public Opinion Teaches Us About the Teacher Pipeline
Read the full August 2023 SLU/YouGov Poll results