Expert Mistrusts Polls Showing Public Support for Homosexuals in Military
by Chad Groening
April 18, 2005
(AgapePress) - A conservative military watchdog says she does not agree with several media polls that show increased public acceptance for allowing homosexuals to serve openly in the U.S. military.
Associated Press recently reported that more than six in ten Americans support the idea of homosexuals serving in the military, while only five in ten supported that idea a decade ago. However, Elaine Donnelly of the Center for Military Readiness says those results are distorted because many people mistakenly believe that homosexuals are already eligible to serve in America's armed forces.
Donnelly contends that other statistics exist to bear this out. "Another poll that was done among military members recently found that, among the military -- where knowledge of the law is more prevalent than it is in the civilian world -- the opposition level is three to one. So I think we have to take that into consideration," she says.
The military readiness expert also disputes the argument from homosexual activists and their supporters that the U.S. military needs homosexual soldiers in order to meet recruiting goals.
"If you want to make recruiting troubles worse," she asserts, "then all you have to do is repeal the law on gays in the military. The American people would not stand for that. I think our values certainly are reflected in that law."
Donnelly feels the Pentagon needs to make it clear that homosexuals are not eligible to serve in the military. She points out that knowing what the existing laws state has a profound influence on how people respond to questions about military policy changes -- something she learned while serving on the Defense Department Advisory Committee on Women in the Armed Services.
In 1992, the CMR spokeswoman notes, when a Presidential Commission asked the Roper Center for Public Opinion Research to poll public attitudes on the issue of women in combat, "the Roper organization showed us that the results were very different, showing strong support for women in combat if people thought they already were in combat."
Donnelly believes the same ignorance factor is at work behind the polling numbers reported by Associated Press. "I think in this case the polls are distorted somewhat because people think homosexuals are eligible to serve," she says.
However, when another poll taken strictly among military personnel shows respondents rejecting homosexual service by a three-to-one margin, Donnelly feels it is fairly obvious that knowing the law makes a difference. She says polls can be manipulated to show any kind of result desired, which is why she does not agree with the surveys that found increased public acceptance for homosexuals serving openly in the U.S. military.
Chad Groening, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is a reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.
