Ed Brayton is a journalist, commentator and speaker. He is the co-founder and president of 
A new survey of returning Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans by the Vet Voice Foundation finds that an overwhelming majority of them would accept serving beside gay soldiers and don't think being gay has anything to do with being a good soldier.
An overwhelming majority of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans say it is personally acceptable to them if gay and lesbian people were allowed to serve openly in the military. Seven in ten (73%) say it is acceptable, including 42% who say it would be acceptable and 31% who would find it acceptable even though they would not like it. Only a quarter (25%) would find it unacceptable. Generational differences exist here as well, but they are not as dramatic as conventional wisdom might indicate. Forty-seven percent of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans under age 35 find it acceptable and would like the policy change and another 30% find it acceptable and do not like it, for a total of 77% who find it personally acceptable if gay and lesbian people were allowed to serve openly in the military. Seventy percent of veterans over age 35 would find it acceptable and only a quarter would find it unacceptable (26%).
More results:
In total, 81% of those in the Air Force, 78% of those in the Navy, 67% of those in the Army, and 68% of those in the Marines would find it acceptable if gay and lesbian people were allowed to serve openly in the military. Half of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans from the Navy (54%), half of those from the Air Force (50%), and a plurality of those from the Army (37%) find it acceptable without reservations; and while the Marines are less accepting without reservation (25%), a plurality would find it acceptable but would not like it (43%).The notion that today's military members are uncomfortable around gay and lesbian people is unfounded; the data prove it is untrue. Iraq and Afghanistan veterans say they are personally comfortable in the presence of gays and lesbians. Seven in ten Iraq and Afghanistan veterans (73%) are personally comfortable, including 37% who are very comfortable. Only a quarter (23%) is uncomfortable, and hardly anyone is very uncomfortable (only 7%). Notably, younger Iraq and Afghanistan veterans are more comfortable overall (80%) and show increased intensity around the issue (41% are very comfortable). Older Iraq and Afghanistan veterans also express comfort (69% overall, 35% very comfortable) but even among older veterans, very few are very uncomfortable in the presence of gay and lesbian people (only 7%). At least seven in ten veterans who served in Iraq of Afghanistan from across the branches say they are comfortable in the presence of gays and lesbians: Air Force 78%, Navy 73%, Army 70%, and Marines 69%.
Seems like the chickenhawk bigots are the only ones still stuck in the bronze age.
Politics
Comments
Of course these stats can be used to bolster the case against: 75% of marines would have reservations serving with openly gay or lesbian members. It just needs enough bigoted hate and fear to start the campaign against. For instance, if WND picks up these stats I guarantee that's how they'll play it.
Posted by: MikeMa | March 22, 2010 9:27 AM
It seems a bit odd that the least homophobia is expressed in the Air Force, given so many reports that hyperchristians seem to have the strongest foothold within the AF officer corps.
Posted by: Pierce R. Butler | March 22, 2010 12:07 PM
Pierce,
It could be that in the Air Force they're less likely to find themselves in intimate proximity, as compared to a submarine or a foxhole, so that even the squeamish are somewhat less concerned. That's just a guess, though.
Posted by: James Hanley | March 22, 2010 12:48 PM
Pierce,
Our officers may be indoctrinated excessively at the Academy, but our NCO corps and the prior enlisted officers are usually way to smart and well educated too be dominated by the fundy twits.
Posted by: Silent Service | March 22, 2010 1:34 PM
So accepting they they often get the prestigious position of leading the men in a maneuver called "walking the point".
Posted by: datruth | March 22, 2010 1:56 PM
The AirForce is more tolerant to gays & women for a very good reason...They are a lot smarter. By that I mean scientific or technical or geeky. At least in the areas where I worked. An officer stupid enough to try and intimidate someone (airman) that knows the computers that fly the airplane (pilots are secondary) Learned, for various reason, not to pluck the geeks. And we were working in close contact but the only thing that counts is if you can get the job done! Its just that many of us were geeks or nerds which meant any one of us was smarter then any 10 officers. And since we weren't a bunch of testosterone pumped homophobes, we did not care what you did off duty.
Posted by: CybrgnX | March 22, 2010 2:08 PM
A little OT but is Mr. Brayton going to comment on the announcement by James Randi?
Posted by: SLC | March 22, 2010 4:46 PM
I just want those polygamists to stay in the closet. To think that polygamy deserves the speical social and legal recognition that gay marriages now emjoy makes me sick. Who do they think they are?
Posted by: datruth | March 22, 2010 5:25 PM
8: Thanks for inherently recognising that multiple-person marriages are usually based on inequality! After all, the reason you're worried about polygamy instead of polyandry is that women are given less cultural value than men, so they have a harder time supporting themselves unless they join union with a man (even if another woman has done the same.) In fact, polyandry is unfamiliar and inconceivable to most people, because in the Western world, marriages to more than one person tend to be inherently sexist.
Gay marriage, OTOH, is based on equality. (To the point where they've been noted to have somewhat less conflict than man/woman marriages, because gender roles are less likely to cause trouble.) http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/10/health/10well.html?8dpc
All of which is sadly OT. Sorry Ed.
Posted by: sharky | March 22, 2010 7:19 PM
dam polygamists. inegalitarians!
Posted by: datruth | March 22, 2010 8:37 PM
As usual, I'd be interested in cross-correlations of the poll question to standard GSS question BIBLE.
Posted by: abb3w | March 22, 2010 11:52 PM
abb3w @ 11:
Well, I don't think the GSS has a perfect match, but I'd be pretty surprised if it differed substantially from BIBLE vs. HOMOSEX.
VETKIND is also interesting when compared with HOMOSEX and WORDSUM.
It pretty much confirms that the Air Force is both the smartest and the least homophobic branch of the military (of the Army, Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force, at least, since the samples are too small for the other groups listed). The army has the lowest WORDSUM, and the Marines are the most homophobic.
Ironically, of the servicemen I've known, three of the Marines have been gay guys, and one from the army and none of the Navy or Air Force people (small samples and all, but still kind of odd in light of the GSS data).
Posted by: Escuerd | March 23, 2010 4:39 AM