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Self-selection and opposition to gay rights among military career-seekers

Opposition to gay rights among serving military personnel was one of the leading justifications for the US military's longstanding ban on open service by gay men and lesbians. This study demonstrates that this opposition derives in large part from the self-selection of individuals into military careers. Using data from the Cooperative Institutional Research Program Freshman Survey, it shows a strong and increasing divergence of opinions on gay rights between students seeking military careers and their civilian counterparts, an effect that is large relative to subsequent socialization in the military. This civil–military gap is largely due to the overrepresentation of men and of political conservatives among those intending to enter the military, and the increasing importance of ideology in predicting opinions about gay rights issues. Once demographic and ideological characteristics are taken into account, the effect of seeking a military career on opinions regarding gay rights is small.