JULY 9, 1993 GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE

'Don't ask, don't tell' will probably be new policy

Washington-Defense Secretary Les Aspin and the Joint Chiefs of Staff have met in sessions marked by "a lot of disagreement" in an attempt to find common ground in time to meet President Clinton's July 15 deadline for producing a new gay policy.

The chiefs want to leave intact the Pentagon's statement that homosexuality is "incompatible" with military service. However, the White House is concerned that such a stand runs counter to the president's pledge to allow gays and lesbians to serve without being discriminated against.

The defense secretary supports a plan that would allow gays to serve as long as they remained closeted. The proposal would also ban questioning recruits about their sexual status, and prohibits "witch-hunts" for suspected gays.

But a consensus seemed to elude Aspin and the chiefs, one official said.

On July 1, Marine Corps Commandant Gen. Carl Mundy indicated that a compromise along the lines of the "don't ask, don't tell" approach could be reached.

But Mundy said there were disagreements

Radio station pulls gay church announcement

by Mike Radice

A Cleveland religious AM radio station has pulled a church's public service announcement because the announcement mentions the church's gay worshipers.

WRDZ 1260 AM had randomly selected several area churches and offered them each a free five-minute public service announcement as part of a church awareness campaign, according to Rev. David Bahr, pastor of the Archwood United Church of Christ in Cleveland. Archwood provided one of the PSAs, which were to air three times a day for five days.

The church's message, which aired during Pride Week, was a summary of its promotional brochure, and included a segment which listed various cultural and family groupings worshiping at the church. Among the groupings were African Americans, Hispanics, older Americans, families with children, and gays and lesbians.

Archwood's PSA ran for two days and was then pulled from the air by station head Jan Decaro. Decaro telephoned Bahr to inform him of his decision to pull the ad, but agreed to reconsider after Bahr complained.

According to Bahr, Decaro then conferred with his staff and reported back that it was their position that the PSA was "incompatible with their program format," and that they would not put it back on the air. Decaro also expressed concern over having

received several telephone complaints about airing a gayand lesbian-affirmative statement on a Christian radio station.

Decaro refused comment when contacted by a reporter. "We don't grant interviews. This is a private business. What happened between David Bahr and this radio station is personal," he said before hangino un

Bahr said that Decaro, in a heated telephone conversation, asked him, “Do you condone the gay lifestyle? Do they have to repent of their sinful lifestyle?" Bahr responded that Archwood is an inclusive church, and that its response to gay and lesbian parishioners falls within the United Church of Christ's guidelines.

“I think it is inappropriate for a radio station that is broadcasting Christian material to deny access to a church because it is opening its arms to all people. A church should be inclusive. No one should be denied access to a life with Christ," commented Rev. Bob Strommen, regional executive of the Western Reserve District of the United Church of Christ.

Strommen also contacted the station, at Bahr's suggestion, to help convince Decaro to put the announcement back on the air. Strommen said that Decaro repeated his defense of the station's decision and reiterated that the PSA would not be aired..

"There's nothing more we can do about this, because the advertisement was free," Strommen said.

Pro-choice activists get ready for Operation Rescue

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by Charlton Harper Safety for medical professionals and tients is the main concern facing pro-choice activists as they ready themselves for the July 9 beginning of Operation Rescue's week of abortion clinic blockades and patient intimidation in Cleveland.

John Corlett, associate director of Planned Parenthood, says he expects many out-oftowners on both sides of the issue. Though exact numbers are still unclear, activists on both sides are expected from Detroit, Madison, Milwaukee, Dayton and Indiana.

Corlett added that violence against prochoice supporters has become an increasing part of the anti-choice arsenal, encompassing bomb and death threats, other forms of intimidation, and murder.

Pro-choice advocates expect matters to boil over into the private arena as well. Picketing clinic doctors' and staffers' homes has become Rescue's newest tactic. Prochoice activists are working with police to assist anyone faced with residential disturbance. Some communities have ordinances banning home-picketing. A contingent of pro-choice legal observers will monitor Rescue's home-picketing activities.

Moral support is also important. Carolyn Buehl, director of Pre-Term, an East Side clinic, says that during the run of Operation Rescue she will bolster the morale of her staff every day with some special act of

appreciation. Planned Parenthood has organized a "Dear Doctor" letter-writing campaign as a way for the community to lend support to physicians, many of whom often feel cut off from such support. Counseling is also available to stressed clinic workers feeling the pressures of hate.

Corlett cites unity as an important offensive weapon. Planned Parenthood is part of the Cleveland Pro-Choice Access Committee. They are joined in their battle by other national advocacy organizations. Efforts to stop the right-wing agenda have taken a strong, pro-active approach since Cleveland is viewed as a major win by both sides.

Peg Fox of the Fund for the Feminist Majority says that recent efforts to stop antichoice advocates in Milwaukee were wellorganized and strong, but that there was a need to "get the word out to all people who support choice."

"The pro-choice community in Cleveland is better prepared than in the past," said Buehl. But she is still concerned that Operation Rescue may ignore the limits of appopriate demonstration.

Corlett noted the relevancy of struggles between the pro-choice community and the gay-lesbian rights movement. "We are building on a right to privacy as our legal base. Planned Parenthood has long stressed this and gays should emphasize this aspect too," he said.

over what is meant by "not revealing" that one is gay, and whether it would be permissible to say so in a private conversation.

White House officials indicated in late June that President Clinton, bowing to pressure from Congress and the military, will retreat from his promise to lift the military gay ban completely, and was open to a compromise plan, most likely some variation on "don't ask, don't tell."

While Clinton is heavily criticized for any support he may throw towards a compromise plan, some gay activists are coming around to accepting a compromise.

Press Secretary Dee Dee Myers said gay rights leaders told presidential adviser George Stephanopoulos in a June meeting that they were ready to compromise on some aspects of the ban.

Human Rights Campaign Fund director Tim McFeeley indicated that some restrictions on speech may be acceptable. “I think

3

we can accept that a public, intentionally disturbing kind of speech may have to be proscribed."

Openly-gay Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass, also points to the possibility for a compromise, provided that the language does not state that there is anything intrinsically wrong with being gay, and that there must be even enforcement of the Uniform Code of Military Justice's sexual conduct provisions for both straights and gays.

"In the end, the president may have to propose something that's not going to win," Frank said. "It's not going to be a complete, total lifting of the ban."

However, others are still opposed to any compromise. Access Now for Gay and Lesbian Equality, a group that supported Clinton early in hiscampaign, has said that they will fight such a compromise with every tool at their disposal. The group includes Clinton friend David Mixner among its members. [

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