The Nation - News from April 12, 1987

Despite a rise in reported cases of personal assaults against homosexuals, a Gallup Poll found no evidence of growing public intolerance toward gays and gay life styles since last fall. In the latest survey, 33% favor and 55% oppose the legalization of homosexual relations, virtually identical to the results of a poll last September. That survey, however, marked the first time a majority had opposed legalization since Gallup first addressed the issue in 1977, before the AIDS epidemic began. At present, 72% say homosexuals should be hired as salespersons, 55% as members of the armed forces, 49% as doctors, 42% as clergy and 33% as elementary schoolteachers.