Don't Ask, Don't Tell--Public Attitudes

by Peter L. DeGroote

For the Record: The House of Representatives held hearings on July 23rd on the "don't ask, don"t tell" policies of the military. The following news story of a survey of public attitudes is summarized without commentary.

Source: The Washington Post, Acceptance of Gay People in Military Grows Dramatically. Authors: Kyle Dropp and Jon Cohen, Washington Post Staff Writers, with the assistance of polling analyst Jennifer Agiesta. Saturday, July 19, 2008; Page A03

The article reports a Washington Post-ABC News poll conducted by telephone between July 10 to 13, among a random national sample of 1,119 adults. The overall survey has a sampling error margin of plus or minus three percentage points. Error margins are larger for subgroups.

The full article can be seen at: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/18/AR2008071802561.html?hpid=moreheadlines

Public attitudes about gays in the military have shifted dramatically since passage of the "don't ask, don't tell" policy 15 years ago.

• 75% of Americans said gay people who are open about their sexual orientation should be allowed to serve in the military—that’s up from 62% in 2002 and from 44% in 1993.
• Breaking it down between Democrats, Republicans and independents: Majorities of each group also agree. Compare this to the opposition President Clinton got in 1993 for his campaign pledge to lift the ban on gay people in the military: 67% of Republicans and 75% conservatives opposed the idea, as did 56% of independents and 45% of Democrats.
• Support for openly gay men and lesbian women openly serving in the military has doubled over past 15 years.  Support from Republicans has doubled, from 32% to 64%. More than 80% of Democrats and more than 74% of independents and 66% of self-described conservatives are supportive.
• 57% of white evangelical Protestants, 82% of white Catholics, and 80% of those with no religious affiliation now support allowing openly gay service members in the military.
• Three-quarters of both married and single people support the idea, both significantly higher than in 1993.
• While 71% of veterans said gay people who do not declare themselves should be allowed to serve, the percentage drops to 50% for those who are open about their sexuality. Non-veterans, by contrast, are as likely to support those who "tell" as those who do not.
• Women are more supportive than men. More than 89% of women support allowing openly gay soldiers, compared with nearly two-thirds of men. Fifteen years ago, half of women supported this stance; nearly two-thirds of men opposed it.