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

DATE: THURSDAY, September 1, 1994                   TAG: 9409010085
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-4   EDITION: METRO  
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: SAN FRANCISCO                                 LENGTH: Short

MILITARY CAN'T OUST GAYS FOR STATEMENTS

The armed forces can't bar homosexuals based solely on their statements that they are gay, a federal appeals court ruled today in upholding the reinstatement of a Navy petty officer.

Only statements that show a ``concrete, fixed or expressed desire to engage in homosexual acts despite their being prohibited'' justify an involuntary discharge, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said.

The ruling upheld a federal judge's reinstatement of Petty Officer Keith Meinhold, who was denied re-enlistment after disclosing his homosexuality on television. But it overturned the judge's nationwide order banning military discrimination based on sexual orientation.

Meinhold sued only on his own behalf, not for all gays in the military, the court said. It said the Navy could not discharge Meinhold solely because of his statement, which expressed no desire to engage in prohibited sexual conduct.

The ruling was issued under the former military policy, which treated declarations of homosexuality as grounds for discharge. Under the new policy, service members who declare their homosexuality face discharge unless they can prove they won't engage in homosexual acts while in the service.

- Associated Press

by CNB