A majority of U.S. citizens support equal treatment for gay people, a recent Harris Interactive poll reports.

About 56 percent of straight Americans 18 and older believe people should be more supportive of gay equality, a number that rises to 60 percent for those polled between the ages of 18 and 44, the survey said.

"The results are incredibly positive," says Jean-Marie Navetta, spokeswoman for Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) National, which commissioned the poll for release today. "People's attitudes are changing, particularly the younger generation, and people who don't have a direct connection to a gay person are speaking up and they think it's right to speak up."

The study examined why people do and don't speak out against anti-gay sentiments.

About 71 percent of straight Americans who have spoken out against anti-gay comments did so because they felt it was "the right thing to do," the survey showed. Almost 30 percent challenged anti-gay comments because of personal concern for a family member. Only 2 percent reported speaking out because a gay friend or family member asked them to do so.

The results come as PFLAG National is launching its Straight for Equality campaign at its Washington, D.C., convention, which runs today through Sunday. The campaign aims to teach people how to stand up for gays and lesbians and talk about why they do, Miss Navetta said.

Although supportive of gays and lesbians, a third of straight Americans said they remain silent because they want to avoid confrontations, the poll showed. "This whole thing is about starting conversations, not having confrontations," she said.

At the Straight for Equality Web site (www.straightforequality.org), people can pledge to challenge anti-gay sentiments and download a guide to help them in their efforts.

PFLAG National also is honoring syndicated columnist Dear Abby with the first Straight for Equality award for her promotion of the organization as a resource for friends and family of gay people.

"People's minds are changed more ... by the person who isn't the minority," says Betty Hill, executive director of Persad Center (www.persadcenter.org), which offers counseling, education and advocacy for the Pittsburgh-area gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community. "When a family member speaks up, it seems to be better listened to than when a regular old gay person like myself speaks up."

Almost 70 percent of Americans believe others don't speak up on behalf of gays and lesbians based on their religious and moral grounds, the survey showed. But only about 20 percent said they don't speak up for gays and lesbians because of their own religious and moral beliefs, while about 18 percent said they speak up for gays and because of their own beliefs.

Harris Interactive conducted the online survey Sept. 21-25 of 2,199 adults age 18 and older -- of whom 1,819 identified themselves as straight and 131 indicated they were either gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender.