How the question is phrased determines support for homosexuals in the military.

This is a bit surprising in that the supposedly neutral term "homosexual" gives a more negative result that than colloquial "gays and lesbians"". No doubt "dykes and faggots"" would give a more negative result. Pollsters have long realised that results of polls depend upon lanugage used and perhaps they often frame questions to obtain results along the lines of what their clients desire on occassion.


This is from CBS.

Support for Gays in the Military Depends on the Question
Posted by Kevin Hechtkopf
A new CBS News/ New York Times poll finds that the wording of the question is key when it comes to determining whether Americans support allowing gays to serve in the military.

In the poll, 59 percent say they now support allowing "homosexuals" to serve in the U.S. military, including 34 percent who say they strongly favor that. Ten percent say they somewhat oppose it and 19 percent say they strongly oppose it.

But the numbers differ when the question is changed to whether Americans support "gay men and lesbians" serving in the military. When the question is asked that way, 70 percent of Americans say they support gay men and lesbians serving in the military, including 19 percent who say they somewhat favor it. Seven percent somewhat oppose it, and 12 percent strongly oppose it.

....
In his State of the Union address last month, President Obama vowed to end the policy that bars gays and lesbians from serving openly in the military – commonly referred to as "Don't Ask, Don't Tell."

No matter the term used, support for gays to serve in the military has risen since 1993, when the debate arose early in Bill Clinton's presidency. In 1993, 42 percent said they favored allowing homosexuals to serve, with 21 percent saying they strongly favored it; that compared to 42 percent who opposed allowing them to serve (29 percent strongly). In 1993, 37 percent said they supported allowing homosexuals to serve openly and 56 percent opposed.

However, support is down from one year ago, when 67 percent said they supported allowing homosexuals to serve (46 percent strongly).