Straight people who are secure about their own sexuality do not feel threatened by gay people. That fact is underscored in a new Zogby poll that found that three out of four (73 percent) of active duty military personnel said they feel comfortable around gay people.

Conversely, people who are conflicted about their own sexual attractions and try to hide them often feel hostility toward gay men and women. In the Zogby poll:

Of the 20 percent who said they are uncomfortable around gays and lesbians, only 5 percent are “very” uncomfortable, while 15 percent are “somewhat” uncomfortable. Just two percent of troops said knowing that gays are not allowed to serve openly was an important reason in their decision to join the military.

Another takeaway from the poll is that the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, which was supposed to expell gay people who refused to stay closeted, simply is not working:

Nearly one in four U.S. troops (23 percent) say they know for sure that someone in their unit is gay or lesbian, and of those 59 percent said they learned about the person’s sexual orientation directly from the individual, a Zogby International poll of troops who served in Iraq and Afghanistan shows.

More than half (55 percent) of the troops who know a gay peer said the presence of gays or lesbians in their unit is well known by others. According to the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, service members are not allowed to say that they are gay…

Of those in combat units, 21 percent said they know for certain that someone in their unit is gay or lesbian, slightly less than for those in combat support units (25 percent) and combat service support units (22 percent. One in five troops (20 percent) in other units said they know for certain someone is gay or lesbian in their unit. Overall, nearly half (45 percent) say there are people in their unit they suspect are gay or lesbian, but they don’t know for sure. Slightly more than half (52 percent) say they have received training on the prevention of anti-gay harassment in the past three years. But 40 percent say they have not received this type of training, which is mandated by Defense Department policy.

But what about showers, where gays could perv on their straight comrades:

[Nearly] three out of four troops said in the Zogby poll that they usually or almost always take showers privately – only 8 percent say they usually or almost always take showers in group stalls.

You have to wonder how many of the 8 percent who use the public showers are subset of the 5 percent who were “very uncomfortable” around gay people.