Ban On Gays

WASHINGTON -- The combustible mix of a high-profile murder and hard-driving electioneering has prompted prominent Democrats to pledge to overturn the ban on gays serving openly in the military.But activists, lawmakers and analysts say the campaign promises -- offered this fall by presidential aspirants Bill Bradley and Al Gore and Senate hopeful Hillary Rodham Clinton -- do not reflect the political difficulty of changing what many see as a flawed compromise.The Republican-led Congress shows no interest in changing the policy.

KEITH MEINHOLD IS A petty officer in the Navy. He is also gay. Everyone he works with knows he is gay. In fact, millions of people learned it when he appeared two years ago on ABC News, got a simple question and gave a simple answer: "Yes, in fact I am gay."While Americans had been told that the armed forces could not tolerate the open presence of gay men and lesbians, that their safety would be in danger and the esprit de corps imperiled, Keith Meinhold and others like him have gone about their business with little rancor in the ranks.

It was not easy for me as a drafted soldier, long ago, to discern the Army's real policy on homosexuals in the ranks.There were a couple of guys in our outfit who were pretty open about it and not in trouble.Once in company formation, before a cold Berlin dawn when everyone made wisecracks the company sergeant couldn't locate, one called attention to himself. I blurted a rejoinder in some way negative.Afterward, he accused me (the words insensitive or homophobe were not then in the vocabulary)

Did Army Sgt. Greg Starr tell or didn't he?The case of this Russian language linguist at the National Security Agency headquarters at Fort George G. Meade exemplifies the complications inherent in the military's new "don't ask, don't tell" policy regarding gays. "Don't ask, don't tell" provides more protection than the old ban, but Mr. Starr's situation shows that even cautious gays may remain subject to relentless attempts to ferret them out.Mr. Starr was discharged last week for homosexuality, though until that day he never admitted he was gay. He did say he was gay last fall on the "Donohue" show -- but his face, voice and name were disguised.

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -- The political debate over lifting the ban on gays in the military has very real consequences for Marine Sgt. Justin Elzie.Today -- at Camp Lejeune, southeast of here near North Carolina's coast -- a five-member board of his peers will recommend whether the 30-year-old Marine should be discharged for announcing that he is a homosexual.It is the first step in an administrative process that ultimately may end in Washington, in the hands of President Clinton.The military's decision to pursue the case, despite the national debate that has gone on since Mr. Clinton announced his intention to lift the ban, hasn't kept the trim, mustachioed Marine quiet.

WASHINGTON -- The Pentagon closed a year of controversy over gays in the military yesterday by issuing a new policy that gives commanders broad discretion to oust or investigate homosexuals in their units.Under the controversial "don't ask, don't tell, don't pursue" policy, which was first announced by President Clinton last July, the only gay men or lesbians who will be allowed to remain in the service are those who can prove they do not engage in homosexual sex and will not.The policy will take effect Feb. 5, replacing a sweeping, 50-year-old ban on gays in the military and a year-old interim policy that was intended to ease that ban."

COLUMBUS, GA. -- The joke at the Chester S. Harrison American Legion Post 35 yesterday went like this:"Do you know what the President did this morning?""No, what?""Enlisted men don't have to salute officers anymore -- they just have to blow them kisses."Retired World War II veteran William "Teal" Allen delivers the punch line in a slow Southern drawl to the hoots of his fellow Legionnaires at the bar. And Mr. Allen voted for Bill Clinton.But in this southwest Georgia community, home to more than 47,000 active, reserve and retired military, the buckle of the Bible Belt, the president's proposal to lift the ban on gays in the military amounts to fighting words.

Did Army Sgt. Greg Starr tell or didn't he?The case of this Russian language linguist at the National Security Agency headquarters at Fort George G. Meade exemplifies the complications inherent in the military's new "don't ask, don't tell" policy regarding gays. "Don't ask, don't tell" provides more protection than the old ban, but Mr. Starr's situation shows that even cautious gays may remain subject to relentless attempts to ferret them out.Mr. Starr was discharged last week for homosexuality, though until that day he never admitted he was gay. He did say he was gay last fall on the "Donohue" show -- but his face, voice and name were disguised.

Jim Holobaugh has gone from poster boy to . . . poster boy.In 1987, the ROTC cadet was the stuff of a recruiter's dreams. With his straight A's in all his military science classes and a milk-fed, Midwestern sort of handsomeness, he was selected to appear in a national ROTC recruiting ad. Today, as intelligent and presentable as ever, he still seems the perfect spokesman -- this time, though, as an openly gay man fighting the ban on homosexuals in the military.Mr....

Gays, lesbians and bisexuals, and their families, friends and supporters, will be among the thousands of Marylanders expected to participate in Sunday's March on Washington for Lesbian, Gay and Bi Equal Rights and Liberation."

Carlisle Barracks, Pa. - Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said Thursday that the Obama administration would move cautiously in shifting policies on gays serving openly in the military, but he signaled that military service members should prepare for possible changes. In his most extensive remarks to date about the ban on gays who serve openly, Gates said he and other military leaders have "begun a dialogue" with President Barack Obama about the issue. Obama promised during last year's presidential campaign to end the ban on gays, and the White House has said recently that it is reviewing the issue.

WASHINGTON - Lawmakers called yesterday for an end to the Pentagon's ban on gays in the military, citing findings in a government report that the prohibition hurts recruiting and retention even as the war in Iraq strains the military's ability to maintain its troop strength. A Government Accountability Office study, released Wednesday, found that since 1993, the Department of Defense had spent at least $191 million to recruit and train replacements for almost 10,000 service members discharged under the ban - including more than 300 with critical language skills.

WASHINGTON -- The combustible mix of a high-profile murder and hard-driving electioneering has prompted prominent Democrats to pledge to overturn the ban on gays serving openly in the military.But activists, lawmakers and analysts say the campaign promises -- offered this fall by presidential aspirants Bill Bradley and Al Gore and Senate hopeful Hillary Rodham Clinton -- do not reflect the political difficulty of changing what many see as a flawed compromise.The Republican-led Congress shows no interest in changing the policy.

KEITH MEINHOLD IS A petty officer in the Navy. He is also gay. Everyone he works with knows he is gay. In fact, millions of people learned it when he appeared two years ago on ABC News, got a simple question and gave a simple answer: "Yes, in fact I am gay."While Americans had been told that the armed forces could not tolerate the open presence of gay men and lesbians, that their safety would be in danger and the esprit de corps imperiled, Keith Meinhold and others like him have gone about their business with little rancor in the ranks.

WASHINGTON -- The Pentagon closed a year of controversy over gays in the military yesterday by issuing a new policy that gives commanders broad discretion to oust or investigate homosexuals in their units.Under the controversial "don't ask, don't tell, don't pursue" policy, which was first announced by President Clinton last July, the only gay men or lesbians who will be allowed to remain in the service are those who can prove they do not engage in homosexual sex and will not.The policy will take effect Feb. 5, replacing a sweeping, 50-year-old ban on gays in the military and a year-old interim policy that was intended to ease that ban."

The U.S. Naval Academy had no comment after gay midshipman Joseph C. Steffan won a court battle to get the diploma that was unfairly denied him six years ago. But you can bet there's talk aplenty behind the Academy gates about what this decision means for the military's policies against homosexuals, including "don't ask, don't tell."Mr. Steffan was forced out of the Naval Academy in 1987, just six weeks before graduation, after confiding his sexual preferences to two classmates. As a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington recognized, his record was "untarnished by even a scintilla of misconduct."

Did Army Sgt. Greg Starr tell or didn't he?The case of this Russian language linguist at the National Security Agency headquarters at Fort George G. Meade exemplifies the complications inherent in the military's new "don't ask, don't tell" policy regarding gays. "Don't ask, don't tell" provides more protection than the old ban, but Mr. Starr's situation shows that even cautious gays may remain subject to relentless attempts to ferret them out.Mr. Starr was discharged last week for homosexuality, though until that day he never admitted he was gay. He did say he was gay last fall on the "Donohue" show -- but his face, voice and name were disguised.

Did Army Sgt. Greg Starr tell or didn't he?The case of this Russian language linguist at the National Security Agency headquarters at Fort George G. Meade exemplifies the complications inherent in the military's new "don't ask, don't tell" policy regarding gays. "Don't ask, don't tell" provides more protection than the old ban, but Mr. Starr's situation shows that even cautious gays may remain subject to relentless attempts to ferret them out.Mr. Starr was discharged last week for homosexuality, though until that day he never admitted he was gay. He did say he was gay last fall on the "Donohue" show -- but his face, voice and name were disguised.

Nine months ago, Army Sgt. Greg Starr thought it was safe to go on national television -- in disguise -- and tell the nation he was gay. It wasn't.Monday, he was discharged for that admission, ending an 11-year career, most recently as a Russian-language linguist at the top secret National Security Agency at Fort Meade.Yesterday, he hung his uniform on an NSA gate in a final act of defiance aimed mostly at President Clinton, who promised during his campaign to lift the ban on gays in the military, then settled on a compromise deemed unacceptable by many gay and lesbian groups.

WASHINGTON -- Twenty-one months ago, Los Angeles businessman David Mixner introduced about 20 of his fellow wealthy gay activists to a man who'd been a friend of his for 25 years -- Bill Clinton.At a private home in the Hollywood Hills, Mr. Clinton, then governor of Arkansas, assured the group that if elected president he would stand up for gay rights and pledged to rescind the ban on gays in the military.Impressed with Mr. Clinton, members of the group, known as Angle, endorsed him for president, encouraged other gays to do fTC the same and subsequently helped raised tens of thousands of dollars for his election.