Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, July 16, 1993 TAG: 9307160257
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: The New York Times
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
Defense Secretary Les Aspin, after one last meeting on this issue with the Joint Chiefs of Staff Thursday evening, planned to send his final recommendation to President Clinton before midnight, thereby technically meeting the president's deadline of July 15.
But Clinton told congressional leaders Thursday afternoon that he wanted to take two or three more days to study the recommendation before he gives his final approval. He also wants Reno and her aides to review it once more, officials said.
A senior administration official characterized the Aspin compromise as a policy of "don't ask, don't tell, don't pursue." What that means is that new recruits would no longer be asked whether they are gay. But they would not be allowed to identify themselves as homosexuals once in the armed services, except to chaplains, doctors and lawyers. Homosexual conduct on- or off-base would still be prohibited.
In deference to the Justice Department and homosexual rights groups, the policy would also explicitly spell out the conditions under which the military could investigate homosexual conduct.
Aides to Clinton and Aspin were working Thursday night on these particulars, which were apparently added after Reno told the White House last week that the policy could be hard to defend in court. Officials said she cautioned that the Constitution's guarantee of equal protection under the law could be violated if the policy went too far in prohibiting homosexuals from saying things that heterosexual soldiers were free to express.
Under the policy, a soldier seen entering a gay bar or gay church could not be investigated on those grounds alone. There would have to be "credible evidence" of either an acknowledgement of homosexuality or homosexual behavior.
In discussions Wednesday night with Aspin, the president pushed the notion of "don't pursue" as a way to create allowances for homosexuals in the military to express their sexual orientation more freely outside military bases. Aspin went over the policy Thursday with the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Justice Department lawyers.
For the past few weeks, Aspin has been holding discussions with the Joint Chiefs, the Justice Department and the White House, trying to make the recommended policy clear as to what situations would lead to an investigation.
"What everyone wants to avoid is giving room for a homophobic commander to go around launching investigations of homosexual conduct," said a senior administration official. "But we also want to avoid giving license for someone to go up to their commanding officer and say, `I'm gay, and I want everyone here to know that.' "
by CNB