Recently published results from a December 3-6 Gallup survey revealed that a large majority of Americans are in favor of repealing the controversial "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy, which bans openly gay and lesbian soldiers from serving in the military. 67% of Americans said they would support a law allowing gay and lesbian soldiers to openly serve, while only 28% said they would be against it.

The results should give hope to those disappointed by a 57-40 Senate vote just this past Thursday, December 9, to delay advancement of a military policy bill that would have repealed the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy. The findings are consistent with past Gallup findings; since 2005 over 60% of Americans have said they would support repealing the policy.
While "rank-and-file" Republicans are divided on the issue, a majority of conservative Republicans are against repealing "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." A large majority of Democrats, independents, and moderate and liberal Republicans are in favor of repealing the policy.

As Gallup notes, however, "repealing 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' ranks low on Americans' priority list for the lame-duck Congress."

Nick Haas (nihaas@umich.edu)