Doug Mataconis · · 1 comment

While the Senate remains locked in a battle over procedural rules that will determine whether it actually gets voted on this year, a new poll shows that the vast majority of Americans now favor allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly in the military:

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Lawmakers seeking to repeal the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy have a large majority of Americans behind them.

If they had an opportunity to vote on it, 67% of Americans say they would vote for a law that would allow gays and lesbians to serve openly in the U.S. military.

The finding, from a Gallup poll conducted Dec. 3-6, 2010, is consistent with previous Gallup surveys on the issue. More than 60% of Americans since 2005 have said they favor allowing openly gay men and lesbian women to serve in the U.S. military, including majorities of the most conservative segments of the population.

The current findings are based on a question in which Americans are asked whether they would vote for or against several proposals lawmakers are currently considering. It was asked after the release of a major Pentagon study on troops’ views about the current ban on openly gay service members and as the lame-duck Congress moved toward legislative action. Defense Secretary Robert Gates testified to Congress on Dec. 2, saying that troops’ concerns “do not present an insurmountable barrier” to ending the policy.