A NEW research revealed a majority of people in Swindon disagree with children being free to choose their gender.

A nationwide poll of 21,000 people ran by the publisher UnHerd in association with pollster FocalData shows that the debate about gender is not resolved.

Participants were asked how much they agreed with the statement “it is acceptable for adolescent children to make their own decisions about their gender identity”.

In North Swindon, 38 per cent support gender freedom compared to 29 per cent who do not. And in South Swindon, 32 per cent were pro-trans rights, compared to 35 per cent who were not.

Here’s what you told us on Facebook...

Eris Crow: “Looks like Britain is heading backwards on the evolutionary tree and Swindon seems at the forefront of this retreat to ignorance.”

Jacob Samuel Allinson: “Because children are very good at making long-term rational decisions...

“Now without sarcasm, remember that in modern descriptions sex and gender are two different things; sex is measurable and finite, whereas gender is emotional and subjective. I cannot be female just because I believe it, but I can be a ‘woman’ if I want. That’s my understanding at least.”

Magdalena Beata Arciszewska: “I only know I had always knew “I wasn’t a boy”, and it’s not rational, it’s a feeling that you can never shake off. It goes deeper than any other of our feelings as this is basis to WHO WE ARE.

“That’s why it saddens me that many people belittle kids’ feelings base on... lack of knowledge and fear.”

Toby Pardoe: “There are two genders, it’s honestly that simple.

"My son was born a boy and when he turns 18 and tells me he wants to be a woman I’ll back him 100 per cent but while he’s a child he will remain a boy.

"Hate as much as you want but a boy's a boy unless told different. Kids don’t know they want for lunch yet alone the rest of their life.”

Helen Louise: “You are born boy or girl, if you want to change then be transgender, if you want to be gay be gay but you can’t stop calling a girl a girl.”

Joe Botwright: “People firstly need to realise gender is not sex and is not defined by a person's sex. It’s how we have been socially led to believe.

"Which is okay, just as being transgender or whatever you want to call yourself.

“That being said, this subject is always a difficult one with no right answer. On one hand you have people that believe we should be open and accepting.

"On the other you have the other people that believe we shouldn’t be. It’s okay to be either. Your beliefs are yours, no-one can tell you otherwise.

“If we look at it honestly and without being scared to offend, children absolutely have to be guided by their parents and the people around them.

"They are not responsible enough to make these decisions themselves.

"The ability to identify yourself as something you're not is silly and absolutely screams for attention, something that children absolutely do, especially if they don’t get the mental support they need.

"More needs to be done to build the mental strength of our children, to help them understand who they are, what they are, and give them the confidence to be mentally strong.”

Tainah Capurso: “Children shouldn’t be thinking about that just yet, they don’t have the maturity for making that decision, they should be busy playing and learning, not making life decisions.”

Joanne Aziz: “As a parent you don’t get to make that choice. The child already knows . But also, as a parent, if this is the case, it’s best to keep an open mind until they are old enough and mature enough to take the next steps.”