Recent News From Service Members Legal Defense Network (SLDN)*

*SLDN is a national, non-profit legal services, watchdog and policy organization dedicated to ending discrimination against and harassment of military personnel affected by "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" and related forms of intolerance.

New Poll Shows 8 Out of 10 Americans Favor Repealing “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” http://www.sldn.org/templates/press/record.html?section=2&record=4099

CNN and the Opinion Research Corporation recently released a poll showing 79% of Americans support repealing the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” ban on lesbian, gay and bisexual service members. Only 18% of respondents thought lesbian and gay service personnel should not be allowed to serve openly.

The CNN poll mirrors a 2005 Boston Globe poll which also found 79% support for repeal. That same poll found that large “majorities of Republicans, regular churchgoers, and even people with negative attitudes toward gays think gays and lesbians should be allowed to serve openly in the military.” A similar Gallup poll found 91% support for open service among Americans aged 18-29. A December 2006 Zogby poll found that 73% of troops surveyed are comfortable with lesbians and gays.

A 2006 Zogby International poll among military personnel who had served in Iraq or Afghanistan shows 26 percent of respondents either "agree[d]" or "strongly agree[d]" "with allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly in the military." Another 32 percent of respondents said they were "neutral" on that question, while 5 percent said they were "not sure.”

For more information on “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” and other polling data on gays in the military, visit SLDN online. http://www.sldn.org/templates/index.html