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

DATE: WEDNESDAY, November 23, 1994                   TAG: 9411230126
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                 LENGTH: Short

COURT BACKS GAY'S OUSTER

The U.S. Naval Academy does not have to reinstate a top student who was forced to resign after admitting he was gay, a federal appeals court ruled Tuesday.

The 7-3 ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia reversed the finding of a three-judge panel, which had ruled that Joseph C. Steffan should be reinstated.

Steffan was forced out of the Naval Academy in 1987 - just six weeks shy of graduation - after acknowledging he was a homosexual.

The former midshipman, who was honored for ``constant dedication to superior performance'' before his ouster, was never accused of engaging in homosexual acts. But the full court rejected Steffan's contention that the Navy could not expel him solely on the basis of his statements about his sexual orientation.

``We think that when a service member declares or openly admits that he is a homosexual without any explanation, the academy may rationally take that statement, at least for purposes unrelated to criminal enforcement, as highly likely to be an admission of homosexual conduct or intent,'' the court's majority said.

by CNB