A recent New York Times/CBS News poll shows a large majority in support of “gays and lesbians” being allowed to serve openly in the military. The results, however, were different about allowing “homosexuals” to serve.
Strangely enough, this was the outcome when participants were asked about their opinions on “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”. One-half of the respondents were questioned using the terminology “gay and lesbian soldiers” and the other half were questioned using the terminology “homosexual soldiers”.
Seven in 10 respondents said they favor allowing “gay men and lesbians” to serve, with 6 in 10 who feel they should be able to serve openly. The results differed when people were asked their opinions towards allowing “homosexuals” to do the same, with 59 percent in favor and 44 who felt they could do so openly.
Democrats, who are most commonly associated with wanting to end the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy, were more so swayed with the different language usage than Republicans.
This brings about the idea that people see a difference between the “gays and lesbians” and the “homosexuals”, which will play a major role in deciding upon which “group” will be allowed to serve openly in the military.
For more about this story visit nytimes.com.
Olivia Stephens
