“Conservatives Shift in Favor of Openly Gay Service Members”
Jun 8th, 2009 • Posted in: Research Report“Weekly churchgoers also show double-digit increase in support from 2004″
From Gallup:
“Americans are six percentage points more likely than they were four years ago to favor allowing openly gay men and lesbian women to serve in the military, 69% to 63%. While liberals and Democrats remain the most supportive, the biggest increase in support has been among conservatives and weekly churchgoers — up 12 and 11 percentage points, respectively.
“The finding that majorities of weekly churchgoers (60%), conservatives (58%), and Republicans (58%) now favor what essentially equates to repealing the ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ policy implemented under President Clinton in 1993 is noteworthy for several reasons. First, the data show that these traditionally conservative groups are shifting on this issue, supporting it to a far greater extent than they support legalized gay marriage. Second, it suggests the political playing field may be softer on this issue, and President Barack Obama will be well-positioned to forge ahead with his campaign promise to end the military ban on openly gay service members with some support from more conservative segments of the population. To date, it is estimated that more than 12,500 servicemen and servicewomen have been discharged under the policy, including more than 200 since Obama took office.
“Overall, the groups most in favor of allowing openly gay service members to serve in the military continue to be liberals (86%) and Democrats (82%), followed by Americans 18 to 29 (78%) — whose support registered a nine-point jump in support from 2004.
“While men (64%) and Americans 65 and older (60%) have levels of support more in line with right-leaning groups than with left-leaning groups on this issue, they join virtually all other demographic segments of the population in registering an increase in support since 2004.
“The only exception to the trend in favor of openly gay service members is seen among those with a high school education or less, who showed 57% support in both surveys….
“As the Obama administration weighs the political and military consequences of a policy change on this issue, it can do so knowing Americans are for the most part strongly in favor of change toward allowing gay men and lesbian women to serve openly alongside their fellow service members.”
For the full press release from Gallup, June 5, click here.
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