Poll: Two in Three Want "Don't Ask" Repeal

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

CBS

Sixty-nine percent of Americans believe gay men and women should be allowed to serve openly in the military, a new CBS News poll finds - an increase of seven points since October.

Just 23 percent oppose allowing gay men and women to serve openly.

The poll comes as the Senate holds hearings on a Pentagon report that found little long-term risk to responsibly repealing the 1993 "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy that mandates that gays can only serve if they hide their sexuality.

On Friday, the Army and Marines Chiefs expressed concern about repealing the policy in testimony before Congress. Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Adm. Mike Mullen, the military's top uniformed officer who chairs the Joint Chiefs of Staff, have called for Congress to repeal the ban during this month's lame-duck session. Gates has warned that not doing so amounts to rolling the dice on a court-mandated repeal that would not give military leaders the time they need to effectively implement new policy.

The poll found that 53 percent of Americans "strongly" favor allowing gay men and women to serve openly, in addition to the remaining 16 percent who say they "favor not so strongly."

Two in three Democrats and a majority of independents strongly favor changing the policy, along with 32 percent of Republicans.

Fifteen percent of Americans say they strongly oppose allowing gays to serve openly, including 30 percent of Republicans and roughly one in ten Democrats and independents. Another eight percent oppose changing the policy, though not strongly.

On Friday, Republican Sen. Scott Brown of Massachusetts released a statement reading in part, "I accept the findings of the [Pentagon] report and support repeal based on the Secretary's recommendations that repeal will be implemented only when the battle effectiveness of the forces is assured and proper preparations have been completed."

Brown is among the handful of Republican senators who say they are willing to side with Democrats to get to the 60 votes necessary to break a GOP-led filibuster. (A repeal measure has already passed the House.) It's not as simple as simply bringing the matter to a vote, however, since Republicans want a full amendment process before casting their votes - something that could take as long as two weeks. Because there is little time left in the lame duck session and Democrats are trying to pass a number of bills before the holiday recess, the prospects for passage of repeal remain unclear.

Poll: 3 in 4 Say Deficit a Very Serious Problem
Poll: Americans Concerned WikiLeaks Dump will Hurt the U.S.
Poll: Most Support New TSA Measures
Obama's Approval Rating Up a Bit
Poll: Most Oppose GOP Tax Plan
Read the Complete Poll

---

This poll was conducted among a random sample of 1,067 adults nationwide, interviewed by telephone November 29-December 2, 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 three percentage points. The error for subgroups is higher.

This poll release conforms to the Standards of Disclosure of the National Council on Public Polls.

---

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

[euge005]

Given the nature of the question, the % in favor in interesting.

[tsigili]

Well, this has been the year of passing bad bills, and denying good ones. therefore the Dream Act will probably pass, and the DADT repeal will probably fail.

We can get used to, Washington doing exactly the opposite of what makes good sense.

[euge005]

LOL, from the 19th. The opposite happened. Both good policies and not just "liberal" ones won. The one making the post expressed a fear well founded based on the way things in the obstructionist congress had gone, Obama got them to be more reasonsible in one regard. Now he needs to get his head on straight with respect to the criminal immigrants.

[nojoking]

"Polls, polls, polls, yak,yak, yak,"....polls are notoriously biased depending on the area or group polled. The aberrant populace in San Francisco are bound to be to be in favor of any lecherous polling. Being a black person, I am completely against any perverted group associating themselves with black civil rights issues. There is NO comparison what-so-ever....!

[jaykay3141]

Hmmm ... as I look over from the hetero side of the fence, I didn't make a "choice" about my orientation. Somehow, when I was about 11 or 12, those annoying, cootie-laden creatures called girls started to look interesting, and by the time I was 14 they were _very_ interesting. Nobody taught me, nobody suggested anything, IT JUST HAPPENED because that's the way my brain and body are wired.

Stop thumping your Bible long enough to read the science behind sexual orientation. Gays don't "choose a lifestyle" any more than the rest of us choose a heterosexual "lifestyle". Being a guy who likes women is part of who and what I am, not a choice, and from every one of the gays I've encountered in my life it's the same for them. In fact, as one put it, why would anyone voluntarily choose a sexual orientation that would subject them to discrimination, abuse, outright bigotry (look in a mirror, joker) or even physical danger?

I've never heard of gay people peeking in us heteros' bedrooms to see what goes on, nor have I heard of the opposite. Get over it.

[euge005]

Agreed, 2 separate groups of abused and disenfranchised citizens. Have some compasion for a group not your own.

[internomad]

I love how they takes polls of sensitive issues requesting input from people that don't have to deal with the issues. If it is not going to effect them or expose them to the situation, then they see nothing wrong with it because they don't have to deal with the situation.

The people that should be asked if they support or oppose it, should be the people that are directly effected by it being our servicemen and woman and no others, and it should be done by diplomatic voting process that would help insure that one party or the other try to manipulate the votes voting more than once or try to "fudge" the numbers as every other polling process that takes place in this Country.

People conveniently speak of this person has rights and that person has rights, which they do, However, in this particular issue the straight men have rights as well. This society has come to the point that they are so concerned to offend the rights of a minority that they ignore the rights of the majority.

As far as this issue is concerned, it should be decided by the people that are affected by it by being exposed to it, which is are the service people. If they are ok with it, then the rest of American citizens should be ok with it, as long as the military is doing their job they are supposed to do that should be your only concern.

Another solution, we currently have 2 different categories of segregation based on sex being male and female. We have male restrooms/ locker rooms/ showers and birthing areas and female restrooms/ locker rooms/ showers and birthing areas, create a third area of restrooms/ locker rooms / showers and birthing areas for the gay orientated, that way no ones rights are violated and every one can be happy because they don't have to have their privacy violated by one or the other sexual oriented group, or just group them all together in one big community restroom and shower as they do in many of the Asian Countries. then their would be no need for conflict.

[LIBERALS-lie]

What poll-on the corner of Polk and Castro (in SF) ?

[documemts]

"Poll: Two in Three want 'Don't Ask' Repeal"... Third one is McCain.

[euge005]

The guy that sold out after he once supported it. No longer a Mav, just a washout.

[strikerF2]

Is that 69% of the military personnel? Or just people in general? Why are we wasting time on this social issue when we are at war?

[jimbom121]

The military already signed off on it.

[nojoking]

The 69% are in Massachusetts, San Francisco, and the few other homosexual advocate dens of debauchery...

[msimamaji]

On December 2, I read an article by Gene Lyons in Salon.com. Lyons article cited Brian Muller, a courageous bomb technician in the US Army's 82nd division who risked his life disabling bombs, IED's and booby traps in Afghanistan, saving the lives of countless US servicemen. Muller was discharged because a superior officer found out that he was a gay.

On December 3, the Los Angeles Times ran an article about a Baptist Army Chaplain, Dale Goetz, killed in Afghanistan by a road-side bomb - the very sort of bomb that a skilled bomb technician like Brian Muller, could have disabled.

Undoubtedly Dale Goetz spread a lot of the homophobia that resulted in Brian Muller's discharge. I also can't help wondering - if Muller had remained in the service, perhaps Goetz would still be alive.

Beyond the irony of 2 days of news reports, I can't help thinking about the valuable people that the military loses because of its homophobia. In the case of Brian Muller, I can't help wondering how many servicemen are going to die because of the homophobia of Muller's commanding officer.

By opposing DADT, John McCain and the GOP are endangering the lives of servicemen. They need to accept responsibility for the deaths that occur. But they won't. Once again the GOP is the party of NO responsibility.

[hakori]

Well said, msimamaji. The biggest affect I can see, and it's a good one, is that gays serving in the military will no longer fear loosing their jobs based simply on who they are.

[internomad]

first off, Gays are not the only people qualified to be bomb tech and other positions that save servicemen lives. Secondly, I wonder how many of the actual servicemen enjoy the fact of showering in public areas with gays that are attracted to the same sex knowing that these gays may be looking at you and fantasizing some sick thoughts. How would you woman like showering with straight men knowing that they are looking at you in a sexual manner in the showers. Would you feel repulsed or be thankful that we have people placing you in uncomfortable situations because they see nothing wrong with it.
You put a individual in a room full of other individual in which that person has a sexual interest in and they are going to be compelled to look in inappropriate manner at some point or even discretely.
I don't think their would be a problem out in the field, buts it all the other time at the barracks that would pose problems and stressful situations. if you see nothing wrong with it, then I suggest you go to a gym and shower in the mens locker room and see how you enjoy being watch while you are trying to bath yourself.
third, It may not be a bad idea to allow gays to be bomb techs and such, War is always good for population control and what better way to control the gay population then to stick a bomb in their hands. two sides to every coin.