Page 12 GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE November, 1990

Navy demands gay officer repay Annapolis tuition

A gay officer who was forced to resign from the United States Navy is now being asked to repay the $22,000 cost of his Annapolis training.

In June 1989, Lt. Orlando Gotay, a 1987 graduate of the Naval Academy, was aboard the battleship Belknap in the Mediterranean when he was told officers were investigating him because they suspected he was gay. Although the investigation found no evidence that Gotay was gay, his commanding officer issued a mild letter of warning after investigators charged him with fraternization with enlisted men.

Naval officials in Washington later threatened to reopen the investigation into Gotay's sexuality and offered to let him resign with an honorable discharge. Gotay accepted the offer, but then received a letter from the military demanding he repay his education costs.

"By pressuring Gotay to resign, the Navy succeeded in depriving itself of the services of a capable officer," said Matthew Coles, the managing attorney of the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California, which is assisting Gotay. "The

Navy should not make him pay for an education it squandered by getting rid of him."

Gotay, a 26-year-old native of Puerto Rico who lives in San Francisco, said the Navy's request for repayment added "insult to injury."

"They discriminate against you," he said. "then they want you to pay them for it."

In a September letter to H. Lawrence Garrett III, the Secretary of the Navy, the ACLU said the Navy was mistaken in its belief that Gotay resigned voluntarily. Gotay "resigned at the insistence of the Department of the Navy, which made it relatively clear that it wanted him to resign because it suspected that he was gay," the letter said.

William Rubenstein, the director of the ACLU's national Lesbian and Gay Rights Project, said the Gotay case "is another example of the military acting against its own interests."

"The military's blatant discrimination against lesbians and gay men cannot be allowed to continue," Rubenstein said. "We will challenge it at every opportunity." ▼

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תברר תקוה

Chevrel Tikva

The Cleveland Reduc

tacion for Gay and Lesbian Jews

This space has been donated to Chevrei Tikva by the Chronicle, and does not necessarily reflect the views of the Chronicle staff or management.

In the past few years, Chevrei Tikva has been fortunate to have many guest rabbis conduct Shabbat services. The last was in April when a lesbian rabbi from Philadelphia spent a week-end of spiritual and educational hours with the congregation.

On Friday, November 2, 8:30 p.m. at the Unitarian Society in Cleveland Hts., will another unusual guest. He is a closeted gay rabbi from the Midwest. Rabbi "Arnie" leads a pulpit as a straight male. In his own city he cannot attend the lesbian and gay congregation for fear of his gay identity being revealed. However, in Cleveland he is free to be who he wants to be. We at Chevrei Tikva welcome Rabbi "Amie" and hope that everything he is expecting from Cleveland will come to be. Shabbat services are open to all. Please join us to make a great welcome for this guest.

Saturday, November 10, Chevrei Tikva will celebrate its seventh anniversary. The occasion will take place with cocktails and dinner at the Waldorf Towers in Cleveland Heights. Seven years ago a handful of men and women had an idea for this group. They began meeting in people's homes for services, socials and growth plan-

ning. A few years later the growth began to come to a reality and events were moved to the Civic with Shabbat services once a month.

In 1986 it was agreed to have Shabbat services first and third Fridays, monthly board meetings to further expand membership and all holidays celebrated in a Jewish tradition with a lesbian and gay spirit. Five years ago High Holidays (Jewish New Year and Day of Atonement) were held in private homes with a handful of people. In the last few years this too has grown to large crowds necessitating the use of the Unitarian Society for these events. This year gatherings for dinners and lunches around the holidays accommodated an average of a dozen people who, otherwise, would have eaten their holiday meals alone. Our membership mix is unusual. It includes 40 percent women, 10 percent Jews by choice or non-Jews who find Chevrei Tikva a comfortable place to be.

This past summer, the Cleveland Jewish News wrote another full-page article on the group. Over the years, the synagogue has gained the admiration of a nice majority of the Jewish community as well as the disdain of some. Both the admiration and admonition make it a challenge for us to continue to grow and be more important to the gay and lesbian Jewish community in Ohio.

For any information about Chevrei Tikva, please leave a message at 9325551. W

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