"It Matters What You Call It..."

Support for Gays in the Military Depends on the Question


Posted by Kevin Hechtkopf
February 11, 2010


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.


When it comes to whether Americans support allowing gays to serve openly, there is also a difference based on the term used. When referred to as "homosexuals," 44 percent favor allowing them to serve openly. When referred to as "gay men and lesbians," the percentage rises to 58 percent.


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).

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What this is really about is that it matters what you call things... This is something I learned many years ago in my career as a pastry chef and I've taught about it ever since referring to it as "Chocolate Cake Issues."

Before I was even 20 years old, I was the pastry chef at an exclusive suburban country club outside of Detroit. One of the specialties that I would make for the power elite who were members of the club was a seven layer, three chocolate cake. It was a beautiful and delicious creation of my own that I featured on the pastry cart several times a week. On the pastry cart in the main dining room, it was called "Gâteau au chocolat" and it sold for $4 a slice (1983).

But the lesson was this; the club had a snack bar (actually a beautiful small dining room in a climate controlled building at the 9th green) where each day I also sent the same seven layer, three chocolate cake... At the snack bar it was called "Chocolate Cake" and it sold for $1.50 a slice. Mind you, it was the exact same cake, often I'd simply send one half of the same cake to the main dining room and the other half to the snack bar. One day a member who was the owner of a large network of new car dealerships was in the pastry shop picking up a special order while I was preparing that cake. He asked me how many I made each day and I told him, "Usually only one... I send half to the snack shop and the other half goes on the pastry cart."

When I revealed that fact to the member, he was dumbstruck as he told me he always thought they were different, although he loved them both... I said, "No, the only difference is the name and the price." And just then it occurred to me, "It matters what you call things." Many years later as a management consultant, I taught many a business owner the power of this lesson and I employ it in my work almost everyday... "It matters what you call it."