THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, November 10, 1995 TAG: 9511100525
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B7 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Short : 50 lines
A homosexual officer who won a temporary stay of an order that allowed the Navy to discharge him said Thursday he was relieved of duty at work anyway and that steps were ongoing to boot him out of the service.
The Navy also filed an appeal of the stay that was granted to Lt. j.g. Richard ``Dirk'' Selland, according to a clerk at the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond.
``I've never seen the Navy move so fast,'' said Selland, who was moved out of his office and into a small cubicle at his Norfolk Naval Base work center.
Selland, who had been director of procurement at the Atlantic Fleet Industrial Supply Center, said he wasn't given a new assignment. He also said he received a pre-discharge physical exam this week and that paperwork for his separation was being processed.
Lt. Darren Morton, a Navy spokesman at the Pentagon, said Selland will remain in his current command ``until further notice.''
U.S. District Judge Joseph H. Young of Baltimore issued a stay Wednesday that allowed Selland to remain in the Navy until another case challenging the ``don't ask, don't tell'' policy for gay military personnel is resolved.
Young granted the stay after lawyers for Selland said the Navy planned to discharge him in a few days. Selland said he was told he would be discharged Monday.
There was no immediate ruling at the 4th Circuit on the Navy's challenge to Young's stay. The court is closed today for Veterans Day and will reopen Monday.
``This is a seesaw,'' Selland said of his situation. He said he may request leave time next week to search for a job.
Young granted the stay despite ruling last week that Selland's constitutional claims to free speech and due process in acknowledging his homosexuality did not outweigh the Navy's mission to maintain morale and discipline.
In 1993, Selland, a former submarine supply officer, admitted to his superior that he is gay.. He said he did so because President Clinton had promised to eliminate the ban on homosexuals in the military.
Instead, the ``don't ask, don't tell'' policy that replaced the ban allows discharges for homosexual conduct. The Pentagon has taken admissions of being gay as intent to commit homosexual acts. by CNB