Civilian,ROTC,and Military Academy Undergraduate Attitudes toward Homosexuals in the U.S. Military

Abstract

The authors investigate a gap in attitudes toward homosexuals in the U.S. military among a select group of people—American civilian undergraduates, Reserve Officer Training Corp (ROTC) cadets, and cadets at military academies. Using a subsample (N = 3057) of data from the Biannual Attitude Survey of Students (BASS), being a military academy cadet is associated with the strongest agreement for barring homosexuals from serving in the military, followed by ROTC cadets and civilians. These trends continue when controlling for respondents' sex and political affiliation—the two most significant predictors of agreeing to bar homosexuals from military service. A small reduction in agreement for barring was found among academy cadets over time.