Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, January 28, 1993 TAG: 9301280246
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Knight-Ridder/Tribune
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
END OF GAY BAN DELAYED
President Clinton agreed Wednesday night to delay for six months an executive order carrying out his pledge to end the ban on homosexuals in the military.But critical details remain to be negotiated with congressional leaders before a deal can be concluded to head off a crisis that seemed likely to humiliate the new president.
White House Press Secretary Dee Dee Myers said Clinton had not caved in to congressional or military pressure. "There is no change in the president's intent," she said. Myers said Clinton remains committed to ending the ban and is comfortable with the delay.
Defense Secretary Les Aspin announced Clinton's decision after a two-hour evening meeting with the president, the vice president and Democratic members of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
There was agreement at the meeting that for the next six months military recruits will not be asked about their sexual orientation, Aspin said. The policy of automatically excluding gays from active duty also may be suspended, he added, though Aspin noted no final agreement was reached on that and other points.
Sen. Sam Nunn, D-Ga., chairman of the Armed Services Committee, said the most difficult point was what to do about gays on active duty over the next six months.
Aspin said that during this period, congressional hearings will be held and Pentagon leaders will be consulted on ways to make this profound change in military life acceptable to servicemen and -women and to the American people.
In a Senate speech earlier Wednesday, Nunn voiced grave doubts about the proposed change, but said "the country is changing; the world is changing; we all have to be willing to listen to other views."
He urged Congress not to take legislative action and Clinton not to take "final" executive action before the six months are up.
Coming on the heels of the Zoe Baird affair - public outrage forced Clinton to abandon his first choice for attorney general - the storm over gays threatens to divert the new administration from its principal goals, hurt Democrats in Congress, anger the military and alienate millions of voters.
Angry callers, triple the normal number, lit up telephone switchboards at the White House and on Capitol Hill on Wednesday, most were strongly opposed to Clinton's plan.
Clinton and his allies hope the six-month delay of the executive order will cool passions and give time to work out a compromise that the public, the military and the lawmakers can accept.
White House officials said they favor a "strict code of conduct" barring homosexual activity that might disrupt military discipline and effectiveness.
"It is important to draw a line between [sexual] status and conduct," said Communications Director George Stephanopoulos. "The president wants to end discrimination solely on the basis of status. Questions of conduct are a separate issue."