DATE: Thursday, February 27, 1997           TAG: 9702270499

SECTION: FRONT                   PAGE: A3   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: LOS ANGELES TIMES 

DATELINE: WASHINGTON                        LENGTH:   57 lines

REPORT SAYS DISCHARGES INCREASING UNDER ``DON'T ASK, DON'T TELL'' POLICY

In the three years since the Clinton administration adopted its controversial ``don't ask, don't tell'' policy, the number of military service personnel discharged for homosexual activity has increased, but the figures are still well below those of a decade ago, a gay rights organization said Wednesday.

Secretary of Defense William Cohen said the report's findings failed to make a case for a policy change, but three dozen members of Congress urged him to take further steps to ensure gays in the military are not being harassed.

The Servicemembers Legal Defense Network said many commanders routinely violate the intent of President Clinton's policy by actively trying to identify and discharge gay and lesbian personnel, including those who choose to keep their sexual orientation secret.

The organization's annual report said 850 personnel were discharged for homosexual activities in the fiscal year that ended last Sept. 30, slightly higher than the 722 in the previous year and sharply above the 597 recorded in the 1994 fiscal year (during which time the policy had been in effect for seven months).

Last year's discharges fell disproportionately hard on women, who accounted for 29 percent of the dismissals while representing only 13 percent of the active force. The report speculated that women were often accused of being lesbians in retaliation for rebuffing the sexual advances of male superiors.

Cohen dismissed the figures as a normal statistical fluctuation. ``It may go up this time, it may go down the next,'' Cohen said. ``I think we have to look in the long term'' to determine if the policy is working.

The increase in discharges is being reviewed by defense officials, ``but it's not of such a gravity that it would warrant any change of policy,'' he said.

But 36 members of the House demanded that Cohen take immediate action.

``In your new position as Secretary of Defense, you have the authority to bring the `don't ask, don't tell, don't pursue' policy back to its original intent to protect gays and lesbians from harassment and abuse,'' the lawmakers told Cohen in a letter drafted by Rep. Lynn Woolsey, D-Calif. ``It is crucial that you make enforcement of the policy, including strong discipline for those who violate it, a top priority during your tenure.''

The policy was adopted as a compromise between Clinton's original plan to repeal the ban on homosexuals in the service and the determined defense of the prohibition by the military and its supporters on Capitol Hill. The approach requires the discharge of personnel who admit their homosexuality, but it prohibits commanders from inquiring about the sexual orientation of their troops.

The report by the Servicemembers group contained official Pentagon statistics starting with the 1980 fiscal year. The numbers showed that discharges for homosexual activity totaled 1,998 in 1982, but declined steadily until they reached the low point of 597 during the year that the new policy took effect. KEYWORDS: HOMOSEXUAL U.S. NAVY GAYS IN THE MILITARY

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