A majority of Americans support Jason
Collins' decision to come out gay and a range of gay rights issues.
According to an ABC
News/Washington Post poll conducted by Langer Research
Associates and released Thursday, 68 percent of respondents support
Collins' decision to come out gay on the cover of Sports
Illustrated, making him the U.S.'s first openly gay professional
athlete.
Pollsters also asked about the Boy
Scouts of America's (BSA) proposal to partially end its gay ban.
Under the plan, set to be voted on later this month, gay scouts
younger than 18 would be permitted but adults would continue to be
banned.
Sixty-three percent said they support
allowing gay scouts, while 56 percent said they oppose the
organization's plan to continue to ban gay adults.
A majority (55%) of respondents also
said they support allowing gay and lesbian couples to marry.
A majority of Republicans (52%) and
conservatives (54%) support Collins' coming out, while 53 percent of
Republicans support admitting gay scouts.
Democrats support gay rights in greater
numbers. Eighty-one percent support Collins, and 70 percent marriage
equality. Sixty-eight percent disagree with a ban on gay Boy Scout
leaders, while 70 percent support allowing gay scouts.