THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, November 23, 1994 TAG: 9411230472
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A11 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: STAFF AND WIRE REPORT
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium: 66 lines
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 that he is homosexual.
Navy Lt. Richard D. ``Dirk'' Selland of Norfolk, who has been waging a high-profile battle against the military's policy on gays, said he was disappointed, but not surprised, by the ruling.
``We knew the Circuit Court was filled with Reagan-Bush conservatives,'' he said.
Selland said that because of the ruling, he may not file his own lawsuit against the policy in Washington. Instead, he might choose to open his case in a federal district court in Alexandria or Norfolk.
Selland's superiors consistently have given him high marks in reviewing his job performance.
Steffan, 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.
The opinion, written by Judge Laurence Silberman, said the Navy's decision to expel Steffan was not based on an ``irrational bias'' against gays.
``Heterosexuals and homosexuals are treated differently because the means at the military's disposal for dealing with the natural phenomenon of sexual attraction differ for the two,'' Silberman wrote.
Steffan, a clerk for a federal judge in Newark, N.J., did not comment on the ruling, but his supporters expect another shot.
``This is one inning in a long ball game,'' said Michelle Benecke, co-director of the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network.
The Clinton administration, which has initiated a ``don't ask, don't tell'' policy regarding the sexual orientation of men and women in the military, appealed the three-judge panel's earlier ruling under the old policy.
Selland, a former submariner who went public with his homosexuality in early 1993, has been recommended for dismissal from the Navy based on his declaration that he's gay. He has said he will sue as soon as his discharge is final.
He said his case differs from Steffan's because it will be considered under a revised Pentagon policy on gays.
But the appellate judges in the Steffan case suggested that their ruling would have been the same even if the new policy had been in place when Steffan was forced to resign. The new policy, they wrote, ``obviously would have no relevance to a military member who, like Steffan, has disclosed that he is a homosexual.'' MEMO: Staff writer Dale Eisman contributed to this report.
ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Steffan
KEYWORDS: U.S. NAVAL ACADEMY HOMOSEXUAL
GAYS IN THE MILITARY
by CNB