Most support gays serving openly in military, says CBS News poll

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

Just a few weeks after the implementation of the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," a majority of Americans say they support gays and lesbians serving openly in the military, according to a new CBS News poll.

According to the poll, 68 percent of Americans said they support gay and lesbians' rights to serve openly. Fifty percent said they "strongly" favored the idea.

Moreover, although many national Republicans leaders were against the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," more Republicans surveyed favor the idea of allowing gays and lesbians to serve in the armed forces openly than oppose it.

The poll shows that 48 percent of Republicans overall think gays and lesbians should be able to serve openly; 28 percent of those people said they favored the idea strongly.

Meanwhile, 41 percent of all Republicans opposed allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly- twelve percent of whom opposed the idea strongly, and 29 percent of whom opposed it only somewhat.

The numbers reflect little change in public sentiment since Congress repealed "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" in December 2010. Then, 50 percent of Republicans supported allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly, as did 69 percent of Americans overall, according to a CBS News poll.

Repeal of the 1993 law, which said gays could serve only if they kept their sexual orientations private, became official on September 20, 2011.

More from the poll:

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Read the complete poll (PDF)

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This poll was conducted by telephone from September 28-October 2, 2011 among 1,012 adults nationwide. Phone numbers were dialed from samples of both standard land-line 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.

[athena69]

Are they accepting tranny's yet? Imagine a man in a dress trying to recruit your son or daughter into the fiercest fighting force that the world knows.

[WTinSD]

When I served in the Army, everyone I ever saw or heard about getting kicked out for being gay, was actually a straight person who couldn't hack military life. It was the easy way to get out without much hassle, just say you are attracted to your battle buddy and they processed you out right away. Now what are all the wimps going to do?

[WTinSD]

I say we make an all gay airborn division. We can drop them behind enemy lines to spread aids and corrupt the morals and values of our enemies.

[daaznguymikee]

Honestly, I could care less if you wish to serve openly, this goes back to the Romans and Greeks. I've worked, dealt, and also have a gay roomate. It doesn't bother me one bit. I'm not gay myself. Just make sure you are ready to get the job done soldier ..

[magnumdr]

A persons sexual preferances is a choice. Nobody is born gay. Most of us don't even know what sex is until we get older. How can a person say that they were born gay when it is a choice "after"!, we learn all about sex? It even talks about gay people in the bible and it is wrong to do.

[kansas1946]

And when exactly did you decide to be a heterosexual?

[mariannpepit]

People should stop critizing gay people and mind their own business. Like I stated, I do not believe in their lifestyle and yes, God made man for woman and woman for man and he will be the judge. There are more important issues going one in this country to think about and thst is politics and the rise in crime plus the economy and lack of jobs plus voting time is coming up again. Its time to get interested in the candidates running for president.

[mariannpepit]

Gay's in the military should be no problem. They fight in the war zone and get killed along with soldiers who are not gay. I don't believe in their lifestyle but its not for us to tell them how to live their lives. I can get along with people regardless of their lifestyle even in a workplace.

[CarrotCakeMan]

Psychologists report the most commonly observed symptom of the mental disorder, homophobia, is a refusal or inability of those so afflicted with this disorder to accept documentation that contradicts their deep-seated phobia. Anti-gays illustrate this here by claiming they can't accept the polls that show their anti-gay views are rejected and condemned by a clear and fast-growing majority of Americans. Further proof of anti-gays' mental disorder is in their expression of their fantasy that most Americans share their hatred and fear of LGBT Americans. I hope one day anti-gays will seek mental health care and learn to live in the real world.

[magnumdr]

Does the "real world" mean that anal sex with another man is ok?

[kansas1946]

Does the "real world" mean that anal sex with another man is ok?
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You know there are gay women too. And heterosexuals have anal sex with women. Seems that people are awfully focused on the anus when talking about gay people. What if they were gay and only had oral sex. Could they server their country.