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

DATE: THURSDAY, June 2, 1994                   TAG: 9406020071
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A5   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: SEATTLE                                LENGTH: Medium

JUDGE ORDERS NATIONAL GUARD TO REINSTATE LESBIAN COLONEL

The military ban on homosexuals serving openly suffered at least a symbolic setback Wednesday when a federal judge ordered reinstatement of a National Guard colonel who was dismissed after she acknowledged she is a lesbian.

The case involved an unusually high-ranking and well-regarded officer, Margarethe Cammermeyer, chief nurse for the Washington State National Guard from 1986 until her involuntary discharge in July 1992.

"The government has discriminated against Colonel Cammermeyer solely on the basis of her status as a homosexual and has failed to demonstrate a rational basis for doing so," U.S. District Judge Thomas Zilly said.

Cammermeyer's Fifth Amendment rights to due process and equal protection were violated by her 1992 discharge, he said. Zilly was not the first judge to make such a ruling, and the issue is certain to be considered by higher courts.

"I feel a little bit like a general who's won a war," an exuberant Cammermeyer said at a news conference, expressing her relief at Zilly's finding that "no one is excused from abiding by the Constitution."

Cammermeyer, who works at the Veterans Affairs hospital at American Lake near Tacoma, said she was prepared for more legal action but felt victorious.

"I am absolutely ecstatic. I feel like a kid. ... The first thing I did was holler so everybody at the hospital knew what was going on," she said.

"It seems like a vindication of all the struggles so many of us have had. I can't say that I'm speechless - I can't afford to be. It's just very exciting."

Asked if she looks forward to being back in uniform, Cammermeyer laughed and said, "If I can still squeeze into it."

Washington National Guard spokesmen did not immediately return calls seeking comment.

Both sides indicated previously that a challenge to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco was likely whatever Zilly's finding.

Justice Department spokesman Joe Krovisky declined comment from Washington, D.C., saying agency attorneys had not read the decision.

A review of the evidence showed "the rationales offered by the government to justify its exclusion of homosexual servicemembers are grounded solely in prejudice," Zilly said.

"Mere negative attitudes, or fear, are constitutionally impermissible bases for discriminatory governmental policies," he wrote.

by CNB