Poll: Most Back Gays Serving Openly in Military

CBS News Poll analysis by the CBS News Polling Unit: Sarah Dutton, Jennifer De Pinto, Fred Backus and Anthony Salvanto.

CBS

With repeal of the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy being hashed out in both Congress and the courts, a majority of Americans tell say they support allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly, according to a new CBS News poll.

Support has dropped eight points since August, when 64 percent said they supported allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly. (It now stands roughly where it did in February.) Since the August poll, Senate Republicans blocked efforts to set the stage for a legislative repeal of the policy and a district judge ordered that the policy no longer be enforced, a ruling being appealed by the government.

The Obama administration favors repeal of the policy but says it should come from Congress, not the court system or executive order. The decision that the policy can no longer be enforced has prompted discharged gay troops to reenlist, though their status could change as courts rule on the issue. The Pentagon has instructed gay troops who are currently serving to stay in the closet for now.

The new poll, taken between October 6th and 8th, found that 56 percent of Americans favor allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly, while 31 percent oppose letting them do so.

Democrats and independents favored allowing gay troops to serve by wide margins. (65 percent to 27 percent in the case of Democrats, and 55 percent to 27 percent for independents.) Republicans were split on the question.

Women also widely favored allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly, 63 percent to 26 percent. Men were in favor by a narrower margin, 49 percent to 37 percent.

Asked if gays and lesbians should be allowed to serve in the military - not if they should serve openly, but if they should serve at all - nearly seven in ten Americans said yes. Sixty-nine percent favor gays and lesbians serving in the military, while 21 percent oppose allowing them to serve.

That level of support represents a six-point drop from August, when 75 percent favored gays and lesbians serving -- though it is roughly even with the level of support found in a February poll.

Read the Complete Poll

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This poll was conducted among a random sample of 804 adults nationwide, interviewed by telephone October 6-8, 2010. Phone numbers were dialed from RDD samples of both standard land-lines and cell phones. The error due to sampling for results based on the entire sample could be plus or minus four percentage points. The error for subgroups is higher. This poll release conforms to the Standards of Disclosure of the National Council on Public Polls.

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Brian Montopoli is a political reporter for CBSNews.com. You can read more of his posts here. Follow Hotsheet on Facebook and Twitter.

[edsoultrain]

I find it funny that in boot camp we force all the men and woman to shower in seperate group showers. But we find it acceptable for gays and lesbians to shower with those they would like to have intercourse with.. why not just let all people shower together... or is that just too big of a jump for society. lord knows when i was int he military i didnt like the idea of men staring at my privates but yet americas and the government think they should have the right to. amarica is to busy thinking of what rights gays and lesbians should have before they relize the rights they are taking away from those that are not gay or lesbian. i find it funny how putting humans with different sexual preferances have been seperated for generations in the military and now you are telling those who like it seperated (male or female) to go to hell because gays and lesbians have the right to stare at you. If your not invading on the righs of a straight male by allowing a gay male to watch him shower then why would you consider it wrong to allow a straight male to shower with females or vise versa. WHERE DOES EQUAL RIGHTS BECOME UNEQUAL?

[dibbs977]

There is just no justification for discrimination against anyone, including gays. I do wish that some gay activists would acknowledge that they have a friend in Obama---and not work against him Obama needs the support of gays as well as vice versa.

[LIBERALS-lie]

Stop taking polls in SF the Castro district.

[presclayiii]

THIS IS A BIG DEAL? Because military commanders place the un-wanted in front on the battle field. and that has in history been the down fall of army's. and lead to loss in war. plus it devalues commands and military objectives. but is it necessary no so with abundant population its a vary bad idea for a large industrious nation to have this policy. open gay no. closet gay how cares as long as they do there job. that's my take. anyway.

[obobitsu]

You gotta be kidding me, Commander is actively find weak soldiers and put them in the front? "Because military commanders place the un-wanted in front". You my friend have obviously never served...stay %$#& out of this debate.

[wls_]

Who cares what the sexual preferences are - I agree with Bill_USAF
don't make a big deal having to proclaim your gay and demand special preferences. Most gay people I know act like it's somekind of "higher level" of intelegence or being. A soldier is a soldier if they do their job I don't care...but if you are going to wave it like a flag then join a cheerleader group. If they are joining the army so they can shower with people of the same sex then they will get a rude awakening and rightly so.

[hakori]

wls_, you just don't get it do you... Most gay people I know you'd have no clue they were gay and they certainly don't regard it as a higher level. The only thing that's higher about gays is their level of discrimination. This is a civil rights issue and has nothing to do with waving a flag. I'm Southern and I still hear those voices from the past who say the same things about blacks: they should know their place,MLK was a communist, they should just shut up and be thankful for what they do have, those yankees came down here and stirred up trouble--that's my favourite. You're either delusional or completely miss the point if you think gays join the service to see naked people in the shower. They join for the same reasons heterosexuals join, period. How would you feel if you were told you can't adopt, you can't marry the person you love, you can't serve your country soley on the way you were born? You might be a little po'ed? Right? If you say no, you're lying. Why is it that in 2010 there is still a minority group of tax paying American citizens who are told you aren't equal, you aren't good enough, you can't expect what eveyone else takes for granted? Why, maybe because there are still too many politicans who think like you.

[hakori]

wls_, since when did expecting equal treatment become special rights? Hey, I have an idea. Since those gays just want to join the military so they can see naked people in the shower, I think we should start a program to get those people to take out a membership at their local YMCA. That way they can get the perks of seeing naked people in the shower but don't get sent ot Iraq or Afganistan where they're shot at. Are you behind be on this one...

[magnumdr]

Shouldnt this decission be made between the men and women that have to sleep with each others. I think what they say is more important what any other person might think or say? Ask them!

[SusanStoHelit]

To have someone we expect to fight and die for our freedoms, denied those freedoms, denied the right to even so much as mention their family back home - that is not America. If we are so terrified of losing bigots in our military, if we can't defend this country without the help of bigots who would refuse to fight alongside a gay soldier, we don't deserve to survive.

But the same fearmongering was done when the black soldiers were integrated in our military. The same threats that all the white soldiers would leave, especially those from more prejudiced towns, the same claims that it would cause division, the same veiled threats that the bigoted soldiers would let the black soldiers die. And it didn't happen. This is nothing more than the updated version of that time. We weren't dumb enough to fall for the threats then, we shouldn't be that dumb now.

[TheKnowerseeker]

At least 50% of the personnel in the Army and Marines consist of Southern, white, evangelical young men (and women), and I figure that at least 25% of personnel in the Navy and Air Force consist of the same. Toss DADT and watch them boycott the military, and that's not even taking into consideration all the other service members who aren't in this niche but still oppose gays. Liberals, do you feel lucky?

[starving1968-3]

You've obviously (like most conservatives) have never been in the military. If you were, you would know how blatantly stupid this comment is.

[SusanStoHelit]

Wow - what a flashback to the arguments against integrating black soldiers in the military. That too was supposed to cause all the bigots to flee the military, leaving us defenseless.

If we must allow bigotry to protect our country, we aren't America.

[TheKnowerseeker]

Who did they poll anyway? College students?

[TheKnowerseeker]

Who cares what civilians think? They generally don't know squat about the service. I want to know what current service members think -- especially Army and Marine personnel.

[JustYourAverageReader]

We the taxpayer pay the military.

[ConcernedArmyWife]

JustYourAverageReader: People also pay maid-services when they don't want to clean their own house(s),pay people to do their taxes because they dont want to do them,we dont like carrying our own garbage to the dump so we pay people to do that, so you pay the military because you dont want to do that either....get the point? There are always people willing and able to do the things that you dont want to do.