GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE SEPTEMBER 12, 1997

Court orders government to pay gay sailor's legal fees

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staff attorney for the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, which helps gays in the military.

Childress was referring to the events that led to Meinhold's reinstatement and subsequent retirement from the Navy, with a full retirement ceremony.

"Others are not likely to benefit from either Meinhold's reinstatement or this award," Childress added.

When Meinhold challenged his discharge in federal court, he won and was ordered reinstated in 1993. The court also ruled the entire policy of discharging gay and lesbian servicemembers unconstitutional.

The government appealed to the Ninth Circuit later that year. The higher court said the government had the constitutional right to discharge gays, but upheld Meinhold's

reinstatement, adding that its decision applied only in Meinhold's case and was not precedent setting.

By that time, the "don't ask, don't tell" policy had gone into effect, which is the reason the government stated for honoring the reinstatement. At the time, Meinhold denied that he had engaged in “homosexual conduct."

Meinhold was later threatened with discharge under the new “don't ask" policy for comments he made to the media. However the Navy backed off.

"This nearly half million dollars gives just an inkling of the true monetary expense of the government's attempt to prevent gay and lesbian military personnel from serving," Childress said.

Childress' group estimates that more than $63 million in tax dollars have been spent litigating a dozen discharges

under the "don't ask" policy.

Childress added, "Meinhold has had supportive command from the beginning. The commander appreciated him and considered him important. Meinhold's unit was also considered the most combat-ready unit in the Pacific, which shattered the military's myth about gays serving. In fact, it was Meinhold's commander that insisted he recieve full retirement ceremony.”

'Don't ask' upheld again

A different panel of judges on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the constitutionality of the “don't ask❞ policy September 6.

In the latest decision, the court ruled that it was constitutional for the military to discharge California Army National Guard Lt. Andrew Holmes and Navy ROTC instructor Lt. Rich Watson for stating they are gay. The

military contended in both cases that the declaration that one is homosexual presumes that one is engaging in homosexual behavior.

Holmes and Watson's next possible step is to ask for the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to hear the case en banc, or by the entire court, not a panel of three judges. The reason for the request is based on the court's earlier ruling in Keith Meinhold's case that it was impermissible for the Navy to discharge someone who only stated that he is gay.

Holmes and Watson have not announced whether they plan to appeal the decision. This latest decision joins decisions in the Fourth Circuit (Atlantic states) and the Eighth Circuit (Plains states) upholding the constitutionality of "don't ask." The Supreme Court has not yet taken up the issue

Lesbians and gays worldwide mourn the death of Diana

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funeral, which was watched by an estimated two and a half billion people worldwide, news footage of the crowds around London often included lesbian and gay couples, many wearing red ribbons to remember Diana for the work she did to bring AIDS to the forefront in the international consciousness.

During a speech in 1991, Diana said, “HIV does not make people dangerous to know, so you can shake their hands and give them a hug. Heaven knows they need it."

Among the mourners were lan Richardson and his partner Julian Peace.

"I'm very conscious, as any gay man will be, that she took up the cause of people with AIDS," Peace said, recalling the famous oc-

casion when the Princess of Wales embraced an AIDS patient in a London hospital in 1987. "It did effect a change in people's attitudes."

He added that a friend of his who died of AIDS had met her, "and he was very moved by her compassion."

Diana was at the bedside of her friend Adrian Ward-Jackson, a chairperson of the AIDS Crisis Trust, when he succumbed to AIDS. Some have speculated it was his death that sparked her to take her AIDS work to an international level.

She was known to visit AIDS patients at

London Lighthouse, an AIDS charity organization, in the middle of the night in order to elude photographers. "She showed people there was nothing to

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worry about [touching someone with AIDS]," said a London pubcrawler named John.

AIDS activists in the United States have also expressed sadness at Diana's death.

"With one royal handshake given to a young man with AIDS in [1987], Diana

"She single-handedly destigmatized HIV when she opened Britain's first HIV ward in 1987, and was supportive to the core."

forever changed the face of AIDS for the world," said David Harvey, executive director of the U.S. National AIDS Policy for Children, Youth and Families.

In 1996, Diana joined first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton at a breakfast at the White House in recognition of the Nina Hyde Center for Breast Cancer Research.

In June of 1996, she made another trip to the United States, where an auction of 79 of her gowns at Christie's of New York raised over $3 million dollars for the Royal Marsden Hospital, a leading cancer hospital in Britain, and the AIDS Crisis Trust. Sales of a signed catalog from the event raised another $2.5 million for five AIDS and breast cancer treatment centers in the United States and Britain.

In addition to her charity work, the world's most photographed woman never shied away from being photographed among gay and lesbian people.

This past July, she sat with her openly gay

For about

friend Elton John and his partner David Furnish, comforting him at the funeral of another gay friend, fashion designer Gianni Versace.

"She kept her calm for me at Gianni's funeral. I'll have to do the same for her," John said to Barbara Walters when asked how he would hold it together while singing at Diana's funeral.

John said he hopes the recording of his now famous version of "Candle in the Wind" will raise millions of dollars for Diana's favorite charities.

Buckingham Palace has set up a memorial fund to keep up with the contributions being sent to various charities in Diana's memory. In the week between Diana's death and funeral, over $150 million poured in to the fund. Donations can be mailed to the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund, Kensington Palace, London W8 4PU, United Kingdom.

So far, no similar fund has been set up in the United States, but AIDS Taskforce of Cleveland director Chrisse France said that her organization has received “a couple of gifts in her name."

"I can't think of anybody in the United States can carry the same torch," France said. "I don't think there's anybody who has that kind of charisma."

Wanda Morris, executive director of the Community AIDS Network in Akron said that donations to the charities Diana helped champion during her life “give people a way to memorialize their feelings for the woman."

Morris added, "I just hope she knows now, that in her 36 years on this earth, she has caused more good than some of us will in 100."

Compiled by Rex Wockner and Doreen Cudnik from wire reports.

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