(5 of 9)
Though a plurality said they considered homosexuality immoral, 56% said they ould vote fo legislation guaranteeing the civil rights of homosexuals. This was the issue fought out to bitterly in Miami last spring between Singer Anita Bryant and the homosexual activists. But although a majority of the Yankelovich poll subjects seem to side with the civil rights forces (who were defeated by a 2-to-1 majority in Miami) they do not all consider those rights unlimited. From 59% to 70% favor the right of homosexuals to live wherever they want, run for elective office, or serve in the Army, but that majority fades away when it comes to the right of homosexuals to act as teachers (44% for, 48% opposed) or ministers (44% for, 47% opposed).
The controversies over abortion which newspapers once used to refer to as "an illegal operation," have had a similar effect. When the Yankelovich interviewers asked whether it was "morally wrong" to have an abortion, 48% said it was not while 44% said it was. This pro-abortion majority comes from men who accept it by a ratio of 52 to 41, while women still oppose it, 47 to 44. A far larger majority (64%, including 58% of all Catholics) believe that regardless of morality a woman should be legally free to have an abortion if she wants one. But a majority (58%) also agree with President Carter's view that Government funds should not be used to finance elective abortions for the poor.
Not only do most Americans now oppose laws against abortion or homosexuals, the Yankelovich poll shows but they are against all Government prohibitions on sexual behavior.
In general, 70% subscribed to the statement that "there should be no laws either federal or state, regulating sexual practice." That majority included all categories, Catholic and Protestant alike old as well as young. Later in the survey when asked whether they favored eliminating maintaining "laws which regulate what kinds of sexual practices are acceptable and legal," a solid 49%-to-42% plurality wanted them eliminated.
The one apparent exception is pornography. Though adult entertainment areas have spread from Times Square and Hollywood Boulevard to even small towns across the nation, people dislike them. Fully 64% said that pornographic movies are morally wrong, and 59% said the same for advertisements promoting X-rated films. No less than 74% supported the view that "the Government should crack down more on pornography in movies, books and nightclubs." Of these 54% said they felt this strongly. When a similar question was asked in 1974, only 42% favored a Government crackdown.