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GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE JUNE 11, 1993
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Mustn't 'endorse gay lifestyle'
Continued from Page 1
as it doesn't lead to a whole range of deliberate outings. Do you know what I mean?" said Clinton. "We don't want to make it worse. I think we're very close to a compromise along those lines. And I think most Americans will agree when it works out that people are treated properly if they behave properly without the government appearing to endorse a lifestyle. I think that's what you're concerned about, and it's a legitimate concern."
Gay activists hearing about the remarks through reporters reacted to two parts of Clinton's statement-his indication of be-
ing near a compromise along the lines of "don't ask, don't say"-as he called itand his remark that it is a "legitimate concern" that "our country does not appear to be endorsing a gay lifestyle."
Most noted that Clinton's remarks did
not make clear which of several proposed compromises he was referring to when he said the administration is "very close" to accepting one.
The co-called "don't ask, don't tell" compromise, most often attributed to Sen. Sam Nunn, D-Ga., is based on the idea that if military officials "don't ask” servicemembers if they have a homosexual orientation, and such servicemembers "don't tell" anyone they have a homosexual orientation, then the military's morale and unit cohesion will not be destroyed by the presence of gays.
The Frank compromise
Openly-gay Rep. Barney Frank, DMass., suggested a variation on May 15, dubbed "don't ask, don't tell, and don't listen [to would-be informers], and don't investigate." The additional elements of Frank's proposal are that gay servicemembers could be more openly gay during nonworking hours off-base, and that their superiors could not investigate this. As in Nunn's plan, they would have to remain totally closeted while on duty.
If someone finds out about off-duty behavior and turns the individual in, the military's answer should be "we don't want to hear about it," Frank said.
The other openly-gay member of Congress, Rep. Gerry Studds, D-Mass., and
Clinton's version
"There's so many versions of 'don't ask, don't tell' going around-which one is [Clinton] talking about?" asked David Smith, spokesperson for the Campaign for Military Service, a coalition working to lift the ban. "There is no standard version. And any version is not workable. Anything that maintains an atmosphere of discrimination and prejudice is not workable."
Rep. Frank agreed that it was unclear which compromise Clinton might have been talking about. The president's remarks, said Frank, "could have been covering something very bad or something moderately good. It's not clear."
Phil Wilson, head of the National Black Gay and Lesbian Leadership Forum, and others expressed exasperation about Clinton's concern that the new policy not "endorse a gay lifestyle."
"For us, this is not about endorsing any lifestyle," said Wilson. "I don't know what
he means. If the statement had been that 'our country not appear to be endorsing any lifestyle-gay or otherwise' it would have been appropriate. But as it is, the statement is a little disturbing."
Tanya Domi, an official with the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, said she has heard Clinton make similar remarks before.
"As a public official, he should be endorsing non-discrimination,” said Domi.
Campaign adviser Mixner said the growing consensus that the administration, the Pentagon and the Congress will eventually accept some "compromise" on the issue makes it "essential that the community have some very basic threshold of principles that will have to be included in any compromise." Those basics for him, said Mixner, would be "no government sanctioning of the closet," no witch-hunts and interrogations, and respect for a gay servicemember's "dignity in the workplace."
"There comes a point," said Mixner, "when it is better to go down to a solid defeat than to have society feel that they have dealt with a problem."
Reprinted with permission from the Washington Blade.
leaders of the nation's gay civil rights Frank: If ban
organizations criticized Frank's proposal
as premature and an unaccepable continuation of discrimination.
"I don't think this is any time to raise the white flag," Studds said. "Rosa Parks did not ask to sit in the middle of the bus."
Frank defended it as a necessary evil. "I regret that we can't move immediately to removal of the ban. I don't think the votes are there. I don't think society's quite ready for it," he said. "Those who insist on no compromise at all are very likely to see a total enactment of the ban."
"The notion that you never compromise on a civil rights issue baffles me," Frank said May 28. "The Emancipation Proclamation freed the slaves in some states, and not others. It did not free the slaves in the states that were cooperating in the war. Now, that was a moral outrage, but I don't remember anybody saying, 'No, you free everybody or you free nobody.'
A number of activists also pointed out that a "don't tell" provision may be found unconstitutional in the courts.
stays, don't register gays
Boston-Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., said during a Northeastern University commencement speech that if the ban on gays remains, he would introduce an amendment to the Selective Service laws that no gay men should have to register: "There wouldn't be any point in collecting a whole lot of names you don't plan to use."
"If they want to establish a principle that you must be a heterosexual man to die for your country, we might as well be consistent about that," Frank said May 28.
The Selective Service requires 18-yearold males to register for a prospective military draft when they turn 18. Sixteen lawmakers proposed in January that it be eliminated altogether to save the government $30 million annually.
Rally opposes Operation Rescue
There will be a Freedom of Choice Cleveland Coalition Rally on Saturday, June 12 at 1 pm on Public Square. The purpose of this rally is to oppose the presence of Operation Rescue in the City of Cleveland and support women's access to abortion services.
The next Pro-Choice Saturday will be held on Saturday, July 10, at Planned Parenthood Administrative offices, 3135 Euclid
Avenue, Suite 101 from 9-11:45.
Pro-Choice Saturday volunteers work on Freedom of Choice projects. They also share the latest pro-choice updates and have coffee, juice and donuts together while helping with pro-choice activities.
For the latest information on pro-choice issues, call the Planned Parenthood ProChoice Action Line at 771-4070 ext.