A poll has found that 59% of Americans think that trans people should have to use the bathroom associated with their birth gender.

The poll, conducted by SSRS on behalf of CBS News, asked participants to pick between the statements “Transgendered students should use the bathrooms/locker rooms of their birth gender”, and “Transgendered students should use the bathrooms/locker rooms of their preferred gender”.

It found that 59% of Americans overall believed they should use the bathroom of their birth gender, with just 26% comfortable with them using their preferred bathroom.

A clear plurality of every group opposed the use of preferred bathrooms, though the margin falls to 49%-35% among under-29s.

Notably, men were far more opposed to the idea than women, with 62%-23% and 56%-29% margins respectively, despite claims from conservative groups that women will be sexually assaulted by trans people.

Democrats are slightly more welcoming of the idea, with a 56%-33% margin, compared to 71%-16% among Republicans.

CBS stated: “As the issue of the rights of transgendered (sic) people comes more and more to the foreground, schools across the country have been confronted with a new issue: how to handle gender specific bathrooms and locker rooms.

“While a state law passed in California allows transgendered students to use the bathroom of their choice, some school districts in other areas across the country have faced criticism for mandating that students use the facilities of the gender they were born with.

“Most Americans aren’t comfortable with the idea of transgendered students picking which bathroom or locker room to use.

Last week, a trans woman has staged a protest outside a McDonald’s in Richmond, Virginia, after she was told she could not use the female toilets.

In April, a trans woman claimed she had been prevented from using the female toilets by her college, while a Maine court has ruled that it is a violation of a trans girl’s human rights for her school to prevent her from using the female bathroom.