According to a new Washington Post-University of Maryland poll, most Americans oppose transgender athletes competing in female sports at the high school, college and professional levels.

As reported by the Washington Post, the poll found that 55 percent of Americans are against male to female transgender athletes competing in women and girls sports in high school, while 58 percent oppose it at the college level and 58 percent oppose it at the professional level. Conversely, only 3 in 10 Americans expressed their support for trans athletes in female sports across all levels. Fifteen percent said they had no opinion on the matter.

When asked about transgender kids' participation in youth sports, 49 percent of Americans said transgender girls should not be allowed to compete against females, while 33 percent said they should, and 17 percent said they had no opinion.

The Post-UMD poll also found that 68 percent believe that transgender girls would have a competitive advantage over biological girls if they were allowed to compete together in youth sports. About 30 percent, however, said neither group would have an advantage, and 2 percent said other girls would have an advantage over transgender girls.

Just over half of Americans (52 percent) said they were "very" or "somewhat" concerned that trans athletes would suffer mentally if they were not allowed to compete in girl youth sports, while 48 percent are "not too" or "not at all" concerned about it.

The poll was conducted online between May 4 and 17, 2022, by the Washington Post and the University of Maryland's Shirley Povich Center for Sports Journalism and Center for Democracy and Civic Engagement. It considered the responses of a random national sample of 1,503 people.

The issue of transgender athletes in female sports has become one of the most contested issues in recent years. So far, about 18 U.S. states have passed laws banning trans athletes from competing in girls' and women's sports.

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