Less than half of Democratic Party voters disapprove of schools counseling children about their gender identity behind parents’ backs, a new poll shows.

Only about 44% of Democrats said they are opposed to schools counseling children on their sexual orientation and gender identity without parental knowledge, according to a new poll by Rasmussen Reports.

The poll surveyed 1,116 people on May 24 and 25. The margin of error was plus-or-minus 3 percentage points.

Respondents were asked, “Should schools and teachers be allowed to counsel students on their sexual and gender identities without parental knowledge or consent?”

The majority of Americans, about 60%, stand against schools counseling children on their sexual orientation and gender identity without parental knowledge.

A quarter of Americans said school staff should be able to counsel students on these issues without parental knowledge, and about 14% of people said they do not have an opinion on the issue.

Most Republicans, about 75%, said they opposed schools counseling students on these issues without parental knowledge.

Most independents also said they were opposed, about 64%.

More women expressed opposition, about 65%, to the idea of schools circumventing parents on sexual orientation and gender identity.

Only 55% of men said they would be opposed.

The poll also asked Americans if they agree that “there are only two genders, male and female.”

About 23% of people responded that they disagree with there being only two genders. Less than half of Democrats, 47%, said they agree that there are only two genders. About 64% of black respondents said they agree there are only two genders, while 55% of white respondents said they agree.

The poll also found that 62% of Americans approve of state laws banning gender surgeries for minors such as double mastectomies to remove breasts and genital surgeries in an attempt to achieve the appearance of the opposite gender.

More than 17,000 public K-12 schools across the country have policies allowing minor students to use preferred pronouns in school, in many cases requiring school staff to hide a student’s gender identity change from parents.

Parents in several states have filed lawsuits against their children’s schools for allegedly keeping them in the dark about their child’s new gender identity.

Some of the larger districts being challenged are Chicago Public Schools, Los Angeles Unified School District, D.C. Public Schools, Baltimore City Public Schools, San Francisco Unified School District, Portland Public Schools, and Seattle Public Schools.

In Florida, a mother and father sued the Leon County school board in Tallahassee after they allegedly discovered that their 13-year-old daughter’s middle school had secretly met with the child and developed a plan to recognize her new gender identity.

In Massachusetts, parents sued their two children’s middle school for allegedly hiding both the siblings’ gender transitions from their parents. A federal judge, an Obama appointee, threw out the lawsuit, saying the school officials’ actions do not “shock the conscience.”

Some states including Florida, Iowa, and North Dakota have passed laws requiring schools to inform parents if their child asks to identify as a new gender other than their biological one.

An estimated 300,000 minors aged 13 to 17 identified as transgender as of last year.

Hollywood star Shia LaBeouf shared a significant update with fans about his conversion to Catholicism and said he’s just months away from being confirmed in the religion he said helped him find faith in a dark time in his life.

During the 36-year-old actor’s recent appearance on ChurchPOP, English editor Jacqueline Burkepile asked LaBeouf — who will soon play the late mystic St. Padre Pio in the upcoming film “Padre Pio” — where he’s at in his spiritual journey. LaBeouf said he will soon be receiving the Sacrament of Confirmation.

“I’m in RCIA [Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults],” LaBeouf said. “I’m scheduled to be confirmed in seven months and I hope Bishop [Robert] Barron comes down to confirm me. But we’ll see. I’m in RCIA right now and once a week I get on the horn with Fr. Bobby and we talk shop.”

Last year, the actor appeared on “Bishop Barron Presents: Conversations at the Crossroads” and talked about studying for the Pio role which he said led him to convert, admitting that he always had a belief, but no connection.

LaBeouf said he was “never an atheist,” but instead agnostic and credited “Pio” with saving his “life” at a time he described as “nuclear” because roles had dried up. In 2021, LaBeouf was facing a variety of allegations, including abuse.

In preparation for the role he believed would finally restart his career, the director told LaBeouf he would need to do some research and go to a seminary, The Daily Wire previously reported. LaBeouf ended up going to a seminary near his home and met Brother Jude, who told him if he’s going to play Pio, he needs to read the Gospel. LeBeouf started doing just that at a time when he felt hopeless.

“I had a gun on the table. I was outta here,” the “Holes” star admitted. “I didn’t want to be alive anymore when all of this happened. Shame like I had never experienced before — the kind of shame that you forget how to breathe. You don’t know where to go. You can’t go outside to get like, a taco. … But I was also in this deep desire to hold on.”

“It stops being this prep of a movie and starts being something that feels beyond all that,” he added. “The reach-out had happened. I was already there; I had nowhere to go. This was the last stop on the train. There was nowhere else to go — in every sense.”

“I know now that God was using my ego to draw me to Him,” LaBeouf continued. “Drawing me away from worldly desires. It was all happening simultaneously.”

Related: Shia LaBeouf Discusses Role That Led To His Conversion To Catholicism, ‘Saved My Life’