After repeal of DADT, large majority supports gays in military

Just a few weeks after the implementation of the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," a majority of Americans say they support gays and lesbians serving openly in the military, according to a new CBS News poll.

According to the CBS News poll, 68 percent of Americans said they support gay and lesbians' rights to serve openly. Fifty percent said they "strongly" favored the idea.

Moreover, although many national Republicans leaders were against the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," more Republicans surveyed favor the idea of allowing gays and lesbians to serve in the armed forces openly than oppose it.

The poll shows that 48 percent of Republicans overall think gays and lesbians should be able to serve openly; 28 percent of those people said they favored the idea strongly.

Meanwhile, 41 percent of all Republicans opposed allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly- twelve percent of whom opposed the idea strongly, and 29 percent of whom opposed it only somewhat.

Repeal of the 1993 law, which said gays could serve only if they kept their sexual orientations private, became official on September 20, 2011.