COMPLAINTS USUALLY INVOLVED A GRUDGE

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

DATE: TUESDAY, February 16, 1993                   TAG: 9302160347
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A-6   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short
COMPLAINTS USUALLY INVOLVED A GRUDGE
PRESIDENT Clinton shouldn't worry about the anti-gay phone calls orchestrated by the likes of Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell. Those people didn't vote for Clinton anyway, nor are they apt to do so in the future. The same may be said of the American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars. These right-wing organizations represent less than 20 percent of the total number of veterans, but, like the National Rifle Association, make noise far out of proportion to their actual numbers.
I was a top sergeant for more than 20 years. I don't know how many times I had to draw up court-martial charges against someone accused of homosexuality, and I felt like a damned fool every time I did it. Usually, the cases had nothing to do with gayness, but were brought forward by someone holding a grudge.
As everyone should know by now, there are thousands and thousands of gays in the military. During my service, at least three of my commanding officers were gay, and who knows how many more. There were gays in my orderly rooms and on the flight line, and gay pilots. In short, wherever there were soldiers, sailors, airmen or Marines, there were gays. Generally speaking, their performance of duty was no better or worse than that of the others.
This argument generates more heat than light, but there is one thing I have learned for sure: Those who shout "queer" the loudest are apt to be unsure of their own sexual identity. JOHN W. SLAYTON ROANOKE

by Archana Subramaniam by CNB