A USA Today/Gallup Poll last May showed that fifty-eight percent of conservatives and Republicans supported letting gays and lesbians serve openly.

But Senator John McCain, a Navy veteran, is among Republican lawmakers against ending the policy.

Senate Armed Services Committee member John McCainJOHN MCCAIN: "Has this policy been ideal? No, it has not. But it has been effective. It has helped to balance a potentially disruptive tension between the desires of a minority and the broader interests of our all-volunteer force."

Secretary Gates said he has launched a year-long study of the possible effects of a change in the law. But he gave the Defense Department forty-five days to think of ways to enforce the existing law "in a more humane and fair manner."

In California, a federal judge is studying the evidence in a trial over a ban against same-sex marriage in that state. Fifty-two percent of California voters amended the state constitution in November of two thousand eight.

In the trial, two same-sex couples argue that the state ban violates equal protection rights under the United States Constitution. The judge is expected to hear closing arguments next month. The case is likely to reach the Supreme Court.

A survey last April by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life found that fifty-four percent of Americans opposed gay marriage. Thirty-five percent said they supported it.