Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, April 18, 1995                   TAG: 9504210042
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A-8   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

DON'T TELL

Put into place amid great rancor, that policy was but a temporary compromise, given Clinton's campaign promise to end the ban on gays, and fierce Pentagon and congressional opposition to the idea. The Clinton doctrine was an unsustainable but practical device for moving toward equal treatment under the law, to which, it so happens, all Americans are entitled. Now the policy's days may be numbered.

Prohibiting witch hunts, it still allows gays to be discharged simply for admitting their sexual orientation. It hasn't made life in the ranks (yes, they're already serving - always have) conspicuously easier.

The Pentagon wants to protect "unit cohesiveness." But as Judge Eugene Nickerson observed in his ruling last month: "The honor code for service members provides that they will not lie or cheat, and for good reason. Honesty is a quality that attracts respect. Secrecy and deception invite suspicion, which in turn erodes trust, the rock on which cohesion is built."

More to the point, as a matter of law, Nickerson noted that the policy equates speech and thought with behavior, and punishes them as such. Of course, those who would allow their libido to get in the way of their job (heterosexuals too?) may be shown the door. But shouldn't employers, including the military, consider an employee's actions rather than his thoughts?

Nickerson's ruling is not without holes. He would have done better to anchor it more in privacy rights than in freedom of speech. ("The First Amendment will not countenance the proscription of the expression of an idea because others find that idea repugnant," he wrote. Fine, but the military has a right to exercise discipline. Is a recruit allowed to say anything a sergeant finds repugnant?)

Nor is Nickerson's the last word. His ruling applied only to six plaintiffs. The administration says it will appeal. Congress may even yearn to revive the good 'ol pre-``don't ask/don't tell" days.

Nonetheless, institutional discrimination against gays who want to serve their country seems finally, albeit slowly and painfully, on its way out . With good cause: It violates tenets of fairness that Americans have fought and died in wars to protect.