ROANOKE TIMES 

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

DATE: FRIDAY, June 11, 1993                   TAG: 9306110242
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Short

GOLDWATER FAVORS END OF GAY BAN

Former Arizona Sen. Barry Goldwater declared Thursday that the military should lift its ban on gays since "you don't need to be `straight' to fight and die for your country. You just need to shoot straight."

He said study after study had proven that homosexuals were not security risks. He called the issue a waste of time because the ban ultimately would be lifted anyway, just as have bans on blacks and women serving in the military.

"I certainly would respect his comments," said Sen. Sam Nunn, D-Ga., chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee. "I don't agree with it."

Sen. Dan Coats, R-Ind., an Armed Services member and an outspoken critic of President Clinton's attempt to lift the ban, said the 1964 Republican presidential nominee's "opinion doesn't square with the overwhelming body of evidence" the committee has amassed. - Associated Press 


 by CNB