Wait a minute, aren't right-wing bloggers and commentators always telling us that America is a deeply "conservative" place? Hmmm...apparently not on gay rights issues, according to two new polls.*According to the new CBS/NY Times poll, 70% of Americans favor "permitting gay men and lesbians to serve in the military." Only 19% oppose that, with just 12% opposing it "strongly."
*The same poll reports that when the word "homosexuals" is used instead of "gay mean and lesbians," the split is a bit narrower bu still strong (59%-29%) in favor of ending "Don't Ask Don't Tell."
*According to the new Washington Post/ABC News poll, 83% of Americans support allowing "homosexuals who do NOT publicly disclose their sexual orientation...to serve in the military." Only 15% oppose that.
*Also in the Washington Post/ABC News poll, 75% of Americans support allowing "homosexuals who DO publicly disclose their sexual orientation...to serve in the military." Only 24% oppose that.
*By a more than 2:1 margin (66%-31%), Americans support allowing "gay and lesbian couples...to form legally recognized civil unions, giving them the legal rights of married couples in areas such as health insurance, inheritance and pension coverage."
*On gay marriage, Americans are about equally divided (47%-50%) on whether that should be allowed. Essentially, Americans want gays and lesbians to have all the rights of marriage, just not call it "marriage." Personally, I'm with the 47% of Americans who support "marriage," but if we can get GLBT people the exact same rights as heterosexual Americans through "civil unions" (or whatever other euphemism), I'd definitely support that as well.
Anyway, I'm very happy to be in the (overwhelming) majority on these two issues. Hopefully, in a few years, we'll also have an (overwhelming?) majority to repeal Virginia's infamous "Marshall-Newman amendment."
