Gays in the U.S. Military

Public opinion polls on allowing
gays & lesbians to serve openly

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Overview:

The most useful polls are longitudinal surveys continually taken repeatedly by the same polling agency over many years. They generally ask the same question each time, thus eliminating one problem associated with different questions used during polls taken by different companies.

The Washington Post has conducted such polls at approximately seven year intervals. They found that support for allowing gays and lesbians to openly serve in the military has risen markedly from the time that the DADT policy was first introduced in 1993:

	1993-MAY: 44% support, 55% oppose; 2% no opinion
	2001-JAN: 61% support, 35% oppose; 3? no opinion
	2008-JUL: 75% support, 22% oppose, 3% no opinion 1,2

Results of public opinion polls:

2000-JAN: Fox News/Opinion Dynamics Poll sampled 982 registered voters. The margin of error is ?3.0 percentage points. The question was: "One issue that has come up in the presidential debates is gays in the military. Do you think gay men and lesbians should be allowed to serve openly in the military?" Results were: 57% supported gays serving openly; 30% were opposed; 13% were unsure. 3

	2005-MAY: The Boston Globe sponsored a national poll conducted by the New Hampshire Survey Center. They polled 760 American adults between MAY-04 to 09. The margin of error is ±3.6 percentage points, and reported the results on 2005-MAY-15. Most of the questions were related to same-sex marriage. However, they also asked about the military's exclusion of openly homosexual personnel. Results were: 79% of the subjects felt that gays and lesbians should be able to serve in the military. 18% were opposed. 4% were unsure or didn't respond. The Globe reported that: "Large majorities of Republicans, regular churchgoers, and people with negative attitudes toward gays think gays and lesbians should be allowed to serve openly in the military." 4,5
	2006-OCT: Between OCT-24 and OCT-26, Zogby International polled 545 U.S. military personnel who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan. The margin of error is ±4.3 percentage points. Results were: Is a member of their unit homosexual? 45% suspect one or more. 31% does not suspect any. 23% were definitely aware of one or more. 55% said that the presence of gays and lesbians is well known within their unit. Should gays and lesbians be allowed to serve? 37% disagreed 26% agreed About 75% felt comfortable around gays and lesbians 78% would join the military regardless of whether gays and lesbians were allowed to openly serve. 6
	2007-MAY: A CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll was held between MAY-04 and 06. The specific question was: "Do you think people who are openly gay or homosexual should or should not be allowed to serve in the U.S. military?" Results were: 79% believe that openly gay people should be allowed to serve in the military 18% oppose openly gay persons in the military. 3% had no opinion or did not answer. 7

2008-JUL: A detailed Washington Post-ABC News poll was conducted between 2008-JUL-10 to 13 among 1,119 adults. The margin of error is ±3 percentage points. It is particularly interesting because the pollsters reported results as a function of religious and political party affiliation. 1 Support for allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly was: 82% among Roman Catholics. Over 80% amongwomen. Over 80% among Democrats. 80% among those with no declared religious affiliation. Over 75% among independents. 75% among the general population. This is an increase of 13 percentage points since early 2001. Over 2/3rds of men. 64% among Republicans (This is double the 1993 value of 32%). Almost 2/3rds among persons identifying themselves as conservatives. 57% among white evangelical Christians!!

2008-DEC: A CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll was held between DEC-19 and 21. Results were: 81% believe that openly gay people should be allowed to serve in the military 17% oppose openly gay persons in the military. 2% had no opinion or did not answer. We have never seen a poll on a question related to sex or morality in which the percentage of adults stating no opinion was so small. The margin of error was ±3 percentage points. 8

References used:

The following information sources were used to prepare and update the above essay. The hyperlinks are not necessarily still active today.

1. Kyle Dropp & Jon Cohen, "Acceptance of Gay People in Military Grows Dramatically," Washington Post, 2009-JUL-19, at: http://www.washingtonpost.com/
2. "Washington Post-ABC News Poll," 2008-JUL-10-13, Washington Post, at: http://www.washingtonpost.com/ (search for the question "33.")
3. "Same-sex marriage, gay rights," Polling Report, at: http://www.pollingreport.com/
4. Scott S. Greenberger, "One year later, nation divided on gay marriage. Split seen by region, age, Globe poll finds," Boston Globe, 2005-MAY-15, at: http://www.boston.com/
5. "Nationwide opinions," The Boston Globe, at: http://www.boston.com/
6. John Zogby, et al., "Opinions of Military Personnel on Sexual Minorities in the Military," 2006-DEC, at: http://www.palmcenter.org/ This is a PDF file
7. "Law and civil rights," Polling Report, at: http://www.pollingreport.com/
8. "Obama aide: 'Ending don't ask don't tell must wait," CNN, 2009-JAN-15, at: http://www.cnn.com/

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Copyright © 2000 to 2009 by Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance
Originally written: 2000-MAR-16
Latest update: 2009-JUN-14
Author: B.A. Robinson

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