North Carolina Clashes With U.S. Over New Public Restroom Law

A new poll says New Jersey is split over whether transgender people ought to use pubic bathrooms based on their biological sex or their sexual identity. In this file photo from last month, a unisex sign and the "We Are Not This" slogan are outside a bathroom at Bull McCabes Irish Pub in Durham, North Carolina. The debate over transgender bathroom access spreads nationwide as the U.S. Department of Justice countersues North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory from enforcing the provisions of House Bill 2 that dictate what bathrooms transgender individuals can use. (Photo by Sara D. Davis/Getty Images)

TRENTON -- Most New Jerseyans are aware that transgender people in North Carolina are legally required to use public bathrooms that correspond to their sex at birth, but Garden State residents are split over whether they agree with the controversial new law, according to a poll released on Wednesday.

Nearly half of poll's participants - 47 percent - said transgender people should be allowed to use bathrooms in state government buildings and privately owned businesses "that are consistent with their chosen sexual identity," according to Fairleigh Dickinson University's PublicMind poll on Wednesday.

Nearly as many - 44 percent - said people should use bathrooms in state government buildings that are "consistent with their born sexual identity," the poll said. When factoring the poll's margin of error of 3.7 percentage points, the results are tied.

There is also a virtual tie when comparing people's views on how transgender people use bathrooms in private businesses, with 47 percent supporting transgender people's right to choose versus 41 percent who do not.

Women and millennials - defined as people who were 18 to 34 years old in 2015 - expressed the most support for the rights of transgender people.

Knowing someone from LGBT community also shaped people's views, according to the poll. Of the 47 percent who supported a transgendered people's right to use bathrooms of their choosing in private businesses, 50 percent said they knew of someone who was gay and 63 percent said they knew a transgender person. Of the 41 percent said they believed biology should dictate bathroom choice, 38 percent said they knew a gay person and 27 percent said they knew a transgender person.

Views sharply shifted when people were asked about how transgender people should use bathrooms in schools.

Only 37 percent of the poll's participants said they favored transgender people's use of the restroom in a K-12 school that reflects their sexual identity compared to 52 percent who said bathroom use should match a person's "born identity." Another 7 percent and 4 percent said they did not know or refused to answer, respectively.

The issue has commanded the attention of 72 percent of 812 people surveyed from May 18 to May 22, including 41 percent who said they had paid "a lot of attention," according to the poll.

"Call it the Caitlyn Jenner effect," said Krista Jenkins, political science professor and poll director. "It's rare that attentiveness to an issue is so high."

"The opinion expressed today are coming from people who have likely thought about the consequences of the transgendered debate," she added.

North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory signed a law in March that blocked cities from allowing transgender individuals to use public bathrooms for the sex they identify as. The law said people must use the bathroom for the gender that appears on their birth certificate. The law also prohibited cities from enacting broader legal protections for LGBT people.

Defenders of the so-called "bathroom bill" said the law will protect the safety and privacy of women and girls in public restrooms.

The backlash was swift, according to press accounts The University of North Carolina told a federal court it would not enforce the law, while Pay Pal and Deutsche Bank pulled back on proposed expansions that would have created hundreds of jobs each to the state. Musicians like Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, Pearl Jam and Ringo Starr cancelled performances. The state also lost 13 conventions because of the law.

The PublicMind poll also asked whether "age-appropriate" curriculum should be added to student lesson plans that would include "the history of gay and transgendered rights." Once again, people were split down the middle with 49 percent saying yes, 45 percent saying no, 5 percent saying they did not know and 1 percent refused to answer.

Susan K. Livio may be reached at slivio@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @SusanKLivio. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.