52% OF UTAHNS OPPOSE GAYS SERVING IN MILITARY

Most Utahns don't believe homosexuals should be able to serve openly in the U.S. military, the latest Deseret News/KSL poll shows.

Pollster Dan Jones & Associates found that 52 percent of Utahns think gays probably or definitely should not be able to serve in the nation's armed forces. Of that number, 43 percent said homosexuals and lesbians definitely should not serve, 9 percent said they probably should not serve.Thirty-nine percent said gays should be able to serve in the military. Four percent said it depends on what capacities they serve or mention some other option, and 5 percent didn't know, Jones found in a telephone survey of 603 Utahns taken March 30-31.

President Clinton promised during his election campaign that he would end the ban on homosexuals in the armed forces, but he found considerable opposition to that plan when he took office.

On Jan. 29, Clinton announced that he had directed military officials to study the matter further and report to him by July 15. Since then, the president has implied that while he still wants to lift the ban, he'd consider restricting duty of openly gay soldiers. That brought complaints from gay rights groups, and Clinton later said he was misunderstood - any change must leave homosexuals open to any military assignment for which they would otherwise be qualified, he said.

Jones found opinions about gays in the military line up along political and religious lines. Homosexuality is seen by many as a moral issue, and that's reflected in the poll.

Some 60 percent of those who said they are Latter-day Saints oppose gays in the military. Fifty percent of Mormons definitely oppose such a change, and 10 percent said homosexuals probably shouldn't serve.

However, 50 percent of Protestants said gays definitely or probably should be able to serve and only 30 percent were opposed. Some 68 percent of Catholics said gays should be able to serve, while only 28 percent opposed, Jones found.

Sixty-five percent of Republicans opposed gays serving openly in the military; only 27 percent of Republicans thought homosexuals should be able to serve.

In contrast, 60 percent of Democrats said gays should be able to serve in the armed forces; only 30 percent thought they should not.

Men are more opposed than women to gays in the military. Fifty-six percent of men polled said homosexuals should not serve, while 47 percent of women oppose gays in the military.

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(Poll)

Deseret News/KSL poll

Currently homosexuals are forced out of the U.S. military if their sexual preferences are discovered. Do yo believe homosexuals should be able to serve?

Definitely should 27%

Probably should 12%

Probably should not 9%

Definitely should not 40%

Depends 4%

Don't know 5%

Number polled: 603. Error margin: +- 4 percent

Completed March 30-31, 1993. Dan Jones and Associates, copyright 1993 Deseret News