POLL: Most Americans Oppose 'Bathroom Bills'

Most Americans support LGBT rights in some measure and oppose anti-transgender bathroom laws, such as the one passed in North Carolina, according to a poll released by CNN on Monday.

The survey found 57 percent of respondents were against laws which would require transgender people to use bathrooms that did not correspond with their gender identity. A law passed in North Carolina in March requires transgender people to use bathrooms matching the gender listed on their birth certificates, regardless of gender identity. Only 38 percent said of those polled by CNN they support such legislation.

Additionally, strong opposition outweighed strong support for these anti-LGBT laws, with 39 percent strongly opposed to 25 percent strongly supporting such efforts. Democrats and independents were more likely to oppose the transphobic laws than Republicans, but Republicans were evenly split on the matter, according to the survey.

About 75 percent of respondents favored laws guaranteeing equal protection for transgender people in jobs, housing, and public accommodations, while 80 percent were in favor of such protections for gay and lesbian people. Although the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, which would protect LGBT people from workplace bias, was introduced in Congress repeatedly since 1994, it only once passed the U.S. Senate. New comprehensive legislation aimed at protecting LGBT Americans more broadly, known as the Equality Act, was introduced last year, but has seen no legislative action thus far.

The phone poll was conducted between April 28 and May 1, before the U.S. Department of Justice informed North Carolina that its anti-trans law violates federally protected civil rights of transgender people. On Monday morning, North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory filed a lawsuit against the Obama Administration, falsely claiming that the DOJ is enforcing a "radical reinterpretation" of existing federal nondiscrimination law.