JUNE 10, 1994 GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE 7

Judge orders lesbian colonel reinstated

Seattle-The military ban on lesbians and gays suffered at least a symbolic setback June 1 when a federal judge ordered reinstatement of a National Guard colonel dismissed after she acknowledged she is a lesbian.

The case involved an unusually highranking and well-regarded officer, Margarethe Cammermeyer, chief nurse for the Washington State National Guard from 1986 until her involuntary discharge in July 1992.

"The government has discriminated against Colonel Cammermeyer solely on the basis of her status as a homosexual and has failed to demonstrate a rational basis for doing so," U.S. District Judge Thomas Zilly said.

Cammermeyer's Fifth Amendment rights to due process and equal protection were violated by her 1992 discharge, he said.

Both sides indicated previously that a challenge to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco was likely. Considered one of the most liberal appellate courts in the federal system, it has found in favor of gay servicemembers in the past.

Gay rights advocates say the order is one more sign the ban on lesbians and gays in the ranks eventually will be struck down.

"Will this case be the case to overturn the ban? Maybe not, but our court system relies on precedent, and there are plenty of other cases" challenging the Pentagon policy that could ultimately reach the Supreme Court and produce such a decision, said Beatrice Dohrn, legal director of the Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund.

Zilly noted that military experts who testified at an April hearing "conceded that their justifications for the policy are based on heterosexual members' fear and dislike of homosexuals.

"Mere negative attitudes, or fear, are constitutionally impermissible bases for

discriminatory governmental policies," he

wrote.

The ruling does not amount to a reversal of the new "don't ask, don't tell" gay ban, which took effect March 1. Cammermeyer was forced out of the Guard in 1992 under the old ban.

But Zilly's ruling offers a scathing assessment of the new ban. After examining the record of congressional debate, he con-

House cuts off pro-gay campuses

Washington-The U.S. House voted May 23 to withhold military contracts from universities that bar military recruiting and the Reserve Officers Training Corps from campuses because of the military's ban on lesbians and gays. Currently 138 institutions have or are considering such bars.

The amendment, sponsored by Rep. Gerald Solomon, R-N.Y., followed a New York court decision prohibiting military recruiting on state campuses because of the ROTC policy of turning down gay appli-

cants.

Ohio currently has a law, passed in 1993, prohibiting state universities from banning the military for anti-gay discrimination.

Girl Scouts open to lesbians

Washington-The Girl Scouts say Surgeon General Joycelyn Elders criticized the organization without knowing that it does not discriminate against lesbians.

Elders, in an interview with USA Weekend magazine, had defended her earlier criticism of the Boy Scouts of America for

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cluded that "the sole motivation for the exclusion of acknowledged homosexuals from the service is prejudice."

"If I were a lawyer challenging the new policy, I would be ecstatic to have this ruling to rely upon," said Michael Himes, one of Cammermeyer's attorneys.

Pentagon spokesman Dennis Boxx said June 2 that the Justice and Defense departments were reviewing the decision, and will

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excluding gay men. “I also think girls who are lesbians should be allowed to join the Girl Scouts." Elders said.

"It's clear that she is not up to date with the Girl Scout policy," Girl Scout spokeswoman Bonnie McEwan said.

The 3.5 million-member organization has no policy on sexual orientation, but “respects the beliefs of each of its members and does not investigate or intrude into personal matters," according to its guidelines.

It expects volunteers and staff to be "appropriate role models for girls" and permits no "sexual displays by our members, whether they are heterosexual or homosexual," McEwan said.

BBC giveth, then taketh away

London-After lawmakers attacked paid gay honeymoons for British Broadcasting Company employees, the governmentowned company said May 23 that same-sex couples can still take a week off after a formal union, but do not get a £75 ($110) gift voucher.

The BBC had only recently decided to give lesbian and gay employees the same

decide jointly whether to appeal. If not, then Cammermeyer would be reinstated.

Tanya Domi, legislative director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, called the decision a “foreboding signal to the Clinton administration that the policy that they were forced to accept by Sen. Sam Nunn (D-Ga.) in last year's session . . . is, in fact, fundamentally flawed and unconstitutional."

benefits as heterosexual newlyweds-a oneweek paid vacation and the gift voucher. The BBC suspended the gift vouchers for everyone while the policy goes under review.

Gay statue vandals off team

Stanford, Calif.—Stanford University revoked athletic privileges for seven athletes May 25 following an attack on a campus sculpture celebrating gay freedom.

George Segal's Gay Liberation, a bronze, white-coated sculpture depicting a male couple and a female couple, received at least $8,000 in damage when it was splattered with paint and rammed with a bench May 16.

County prosecutors expected to file charges in early June. Damage in excess of $5,000 can result in felony charges. The school is also considering expulsion.

Stanford has considered moving the sculpture, valued at $400,000, to a place out of reach of vandals-but rejected the idea each time. Artist George Segal, who donated the statue ten years ago, wanted the work to remain outside.

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