A large majority of Americans, including a majority of Republicans, oppose anti-transgender bills being debated in more than 30 state legislatures.

While the bills are being backed by Republican-led state legislatures, a majority of Americans who identify as Republican are opposed to such bills, a new PBS NewsHour/NPR/Marist poll released Friday found.

The poll was conducted by the Marist College Institute for Public Opinion.

“The parties are speaking to their base people,” said Lee Miringoff, director of the Marist College Institute for Public Opinion. “The Democratic coalition is more diverse. It's broader. The Republicans are speaking to a much narrower base, and that can put you against the overall public opinion within those jurisdictions.”

Arkansas last week became the first state to approve a law that limits transgender youth from accessing gender-affirming medical care.

Sixty-six percent of adults said that they are opposed to such bans, including 69 percent of Democrats and 70 percent of Republicans.

Lawmakers are also considering bills that seek to bar transgender individuals from competing on sports teams that align with their gender identity. Governors in Arkansas, Mississippi, and Tennessee have all signed bills in recent weeks. In South Dakota, the governor signed an executive order. And a law in Idaho is currently on hold.

When asked, “Do you support or oppose legislation that would prohibit transgender student athletes from joining sports teams that match their gender identity?” a majority of respondents (67%) said no. Opposition among Democrats is at 69 percent. Sixty-six percent of Republicans are opposed.

Lindsay Hecox, a 20-year-old student at Boise State University and a transgender athlete, told PBS NewsHour that such laws “other” transgender athletes.

“The legislation is basically being used as fear mongering against trans people, and I think trans athletes were an easy target,” Hecox said. “They word it so that I'm othered and made different when it doesn't need to be that way.”

When asked about the Equality Act, a comprehensive LGBT protections bill currently before Congress, Republicans are sharply opposed at 61 percent, while an overwhelming majority (90%) of Democrats support the legislation.