The Hamilton College Gay Issues Poll

Executive Summary

The fourth in a series of national youth opinion polls conducted by Hamilton College students and faculty

Press Release
Executive Summary
Analysis
Appendix

Hamilton sociology professor Dennis Gilbert and his students collaborated with the polling firm Zogby International to conduct the Hamilton College Gay Issues Poll. This national telephone survey of 1,000 seniors has an expected margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3 percent. The poll was funded by Hamilton's Arthur Levitt Public Affairs Center.

Other important findings from the Hamilton Gay Issues Poll include the following:

• 71 percent of the high school graduates polled by Hamilton vs. 54 percent of the adults surveyed by Gallup said that sexual relations between same-sex adults should be legal.
• 63 percent of graduates say they would be "comfortable" with a gay math teacher, but only 31 percent think they would be comfortable at a party with both gay and straight couples.  
• About half the graduates reported that they have heard classmates insult gay students by calling them "faggot, homo, dyke" or a similar name. 
• 80 percent of Catholics support legal recognition of gay marriages, in direct opposition to official Church doctrine. 
• Eight out of 10 graduates say that gay men and lesbians should be "accepted by society."
  
• 77 percent agree that "gays contribute to society in unique and positive ways."
• The anti-gay minority (about 30 percent of graduates) consists largely of highly religous Christians who regard homosexuality as a moral or religious question.
• 71 percent of graduates would allow gay men to serve as Scout leaders.
• 39 percent of graduates say that "gay lifestyles are morally wrong."