THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, February 28, 1996 TAG: 9602280382
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium: 76 lines
The military's pursuit of troops thought to be homosexual is ``as bad if not worse'' than before President Clinton ordered that gays be allowed to serve if they keep their orientation private, an independent group defending service members asserted Tuesday.
There is ``a continuing pattern of abuse,'' said a report by the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network. ``The result, in part, is that the Department of Defense discharged more service members under its gay policy in fiscal year 1995 than in each of the past four years.''
Asked about the assertions, Defense Secretary William Perry said the evidence does not suggest any substantial change.
The group said the military discharged a four-year-high of 722 people under its gay policy last year. But Perry said, ``We see over the last five years on average the same number of discharges . . . at arate of about 700 per year. So there is no evidence, from a purely statistical point of view, that the problem is worse or better.''
Pentagon spokesman Ken Bacon argued that changes in Air Force record-keeping on discharges of gays account for some of the apparent overall increase in discharges.
Clinton's order - summarized as ``don't ask, don't tell, don't pursue'' - is supposed to allow homosexuals to serve if they abstain from sexual activity and keep quiet about their sexual orientation. But the legal defense group says the armed services have not cooperated.
``The Department of Defense, the Air Force and the Navy, at the top level, have issued guidance during the past few years that send clear signals to commanders in the field that it is OK to ignore the policy,'' said Michelle M. Benecke, co-director of the group and a former Army captain.
She said the military uses the policy to retaliate against women and that female service members account for 21 percent of all discharges. They comprise only 13 percent of the active duty force.
``A disturbing constant in women's cases is the frequency with which women are accused as lesbians after reporting sexual harassment or rape, regardless of their actual sexual orientations,'' the report said.
In one case outlined by the group, Amy Barnes, an enlisted woman serving on the Navy submarine tender Simon Lake, said she was investigated for lesbianism after she complained last November about ``the aggressive advances of a male sailor who hit me, knocked me to the ground and injured me.''
Barnes said her attorney determined that in investigating her case, the Navy raised questions about the sexuality of up to 60 of her shipmates.
A Navy spokesman declined Tuesday to respond to Barnes' complaints, citing restrictions imposed by federal privacy laws.
But one military official said privately that one woman assigned to the Simon Lake recently was discharged and proceedings are under way against another for violating the homosexual policy.
Perry said reports of harassment of gay service members are looked into. He said he had ordered his staff to look into the legal group's allegations of witch hunts.
Perry said the report indicates that ``the policy . . . was not a very significant change. Indeed the law which came out in 1994, the law which we followed . . . did not mandate a very substantial change. So I would not have expected to see a substantial change in discharges.''
The legality of ``don't ask, don't tell'' is being challenged in federal courts, among them the Richmond-based 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
In a case expected to wind up in the U.S. Supreme Court, the 4th Circuit is considering the Navy's discharge of Lt. Paul Thomasson, a former admiral's aide who was kicked out of the service after telling his superiors he is gay.
The Navy never presented evidence that he had engaged in homosexual acts, however.
KEYWORDS: GAYS IN THE MILITARY HOMOSEXUAL MILITARY POLICY by CNB