From: rjwill6@pbsdts.sdcrc.pacbell.com (Rod Williams)
Subject: ACLU Ad on Military Ban
Originator: rjwill6@pbsdts.sdcrc.pacbell.com
Organization: Pacific * Bell, San Ramon, California
Date: Tue, 15 Dec 1992 17:53:50 GMT


There's a full-page ad in The New York Times today
(12/15/92) for the ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union,
for you ausla"nders) protesting the military's ban on
lesbians and gay men in uniform.  I think it's rather
good & covers the main issues quite succinctly.  Here's
the text...

     -----------------------------------------------

       NO ONE SIGNS UP FOR BOOT CAMP TO GET A DATE.

The military would have you believe the opposite.  They
would have you believe that the true test of a soldier is
neither dedication, courage, skill, nor loyalty, but sexual
orientation.  This prejudicial and discriminatory premise
is reflected in the Defense Department's regulation banning
lesbians and gay men from military service:

    The presence in the military environment of persons who
    engage in homosexual conduct or who, by their statements,
    demonstrate a propensity to engage in homosexual conduct,
    seriously impairs the accomplishment of the military
    mission.  The presence of such members adversely affects
    the ability of the Military Services to maintain
    discipline, good order, and morale...

This language is remarkably similar to the rationale for
racial segregation more than 50 years ago:

    The necessity for the highest possible degree of unity
    and esprit-de-corps, the requirement of morale -- all
    these demand that nothing be done which may adversely
    affect the situation...the enlistment of Negroes (other
    than for mess attendants) leads to disruptive and
    undermining conditions.

It was prejudice then.  It is prejudice today.  Emanating from
an institution charged with the responsibility of defending
democracy and freedom, these prejudices become all the more
unacceptable.  Except for Great Britain, none of our NATO
allies prohibits lesbians and gay men from serving in the
military.

Each year the Pentagon discharges approximately 1500 able,
dedicated soldiers solely on the basis of sexual orientation,
regardless of their service records.  The Pentagon spent more
than 27 million taxpayer dollars in 1990 alone to replace
discharged gay soldiers (not including the cost of the
investigations and discharges) based on a premise that the
Defense Department's own studies discredit.  These studies
demonstrate that there is no valid reason for maintaining the
discriminatory policy.  Even Secretary of Defense Cheney
dismissed the notion that lesbians and gay men present a
security risk as "a bit of an old chestnut."

It is true that President-elect Bill Clinton has pledged to
overturn the military's discriminatory ban.  But many military
officers and some members of Congress have vowed to block the
President-elect from taking this action.  This is your call to
arms in the fight against discrimination.

        LESBIANS AND GAY MEN ENLIST IN THE MILITARY
           FOR THE SAME REASON AS HETEROSEXUALS.
             THEY WANT TO SERVE THEIR COUNTRY.

      -----------------------------------------------

The ad goes on to invite readers to join the ACLU, by sending
a tax-deductible contribution of $25, $100, $1000 or $Other
(checks payable to "ACLU Foundation") to the ACLU at 132 West
43rd Street, Dept. LGB, New York, NY 10036.

A notice advises, "This advertisement was paid for by a generous
gift from the David Geffen Foundation."
-- 
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
rod williams -=- pacific bell -=- san ramon, ca -=- rjwill6@pacbell.com
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Newsgroups: soc.motss