
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, August 27, 1993                   TAG: 9308270071
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Los Angeles Times
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Medium

PENTAGON REPORT: LIFTING GAY BAN OK

The Pentagon on Thursday made public a long-delayed study that recommends completely eliminating the ban on gays in the military - a policy that would go far beyond President Clinton's July 19 decision to allow homosexuals to serve only with strict limitations.

The findings were presented in a Rand Corp. report that essentially was completed in early July - 15 days before the president announced the more-restrictive policy - but was kept under wraps until now, after the issue has been decided and the furor has largely abated.

Clinton administration officials acknowledged that only minuscule changes have been made in the document since the initial draft was finished seven weeks ago, but they denied that the report was delayed for political reasons.

Kathleen deLaski, the Defense Department's spokeswoman, asserted that the report had not been made public earlier because "it did not exist in a hard-copy form." But she said policymakers had been briefed on its contents before Clinton made his decision.

But David M. Smith, a spokesman for the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, charged that the report "clearly was deliberately delayed" to deprive gay-rights groups of added ammunition for arguing that Clinton should do away with all restrictions immediately.

The policy announced by Clinton allows homosexuals to serve in the military as long as they keep their sexual orientation private, but it continues to make them subject to discharge for engaging in homosexual acts on or off base.

Clinton told Pentagon officials in January that he wanted to draft an order "ending discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation in determining who may serve in the armed forces," but backpedaled after opposition from conservatives and military leaders.

The study released Thursday, commissioned by the Pentagon in hopes of providing the most comprehensive treatment of the subject to date, says military commanders should "consider sexual orientation, by itself, as not germane to determining who may serve."

The 518-page document also systematically refutes - or dismisses as manageable problems - virtually all the major arguments that military leaders and conservatives have made against eliminating the ban and restrictions on gays in the armed forces.

by CNB