THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, March 1, 1995 TAG: 9503010453
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Short : 43 lines
The Navy awarded an achievement medal Tuesday to a lieutenant it is trying to expel because he's gay.
Lt. Tracy Thorne, 28 - the former Oceana-based flier whose televised declaration of his homosexuality put him in the fore of the gay rights movement - received the Navy Achievement Medal in a ceremony at Naval Air Systems Command in Arlington, his last active-duty posting.
Thorne, a reservist living in Richmond, has been waiting since July for Navy Secretary John Dalton to rule on the discharge recommendation.
Thorne is ``an exemplary lieutenant'' who ``was held in high regard'' by co-workers, Cmdr. Craig Luigart, Thorne's former boss at the Naval Air Systems Command in Washington, said Monday. ``My biggest administrative nightmare right now is trying to figure out how to replace him.''
Thorne said he didn't know how the Navy could have approved the citation given that it has been trying to oust him since he publicly disclosed his sexual orientation in May 1992 on ABC's ``Nightline.''
``I'm still befuddled by it all,'' he said Tuesday.
Lt. Cmdr. Kenneth Ross, a Navy spokesman, said Thorne's award ``reflects what he did at that command and what his commander thought of his work.''
The citation recognizes Thorne's ``professional achievement in the superior performance of his duties'' between January and October 1994, while he was director of the Help Desk at Naval Air Systems Command information and technology division.
Last July, a naval board of inquiry recommended that Thorne be discharged for violating the ``don't ask, don't tell'' policy. He has been waiting ever since for Dalton to rule on the recommendation. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Thorne
KEYWORDS: GAYS IN THE MILITARY HOMOSEXUALS by CNB