January 1994 T PAGE 5 Q-Notes
DOD defines “Don’t
Ask; Don’t Tell”
by Dan Van Mourik
Q-Notes Staff
WASHINGTON, DC—Outgoing Sec
retary of Defense Les Aspin held a press
conference on Wednesday, December 22 to
give gays in the military an early Christmas
present—one akin to a lump of coal in their
Christmas stockings. The Department of
Defense (DOD) has begun to define the
“Don’t Ask; Don’t Tell; Don’t Pursue”
policy regarding homosexual service mem
bers.
On October 29,1993, the Supreme Court
granted the Justice Department’s request
for a partial stay of a lower court’s ruling
that the new DOD policy could not be
enforced. While the DOD continues to move
that decision through the appeals process,
the Supreme Court has given them legal
permission to enforce the policy.
When “Don’t Ask; Don’t Tell; Don’t
Pursue” was first announced, the language
of the policy was vague and open to inter
pretation. The DOD has now clarified some
of the grounds for discharge, clearly negat
ing any advances gays may have thought
had been achieved. While “Don’t Ask”
remains intact, meaning new recruits will
not be asked their sexual orientation, the
DOD has reverted to the stance on homo
sexuality taken before any of Clinton’s
efforts to change them.
Effective February 1, 1994, any homo
sexual service member can and will be
discharged if:
* they engage in any homosexual act,
• they marry someone of the same sex,
♦ they openly admit to being homosexual.
To clarify “Don’t Pursue,” the DOD claims
it will not investigate a service member for
simply being in a gay bar. However, kissing
a member of the same sex while there would
prompt pursuit. The DOD considers same-
sex kissing a “homosexual acf’ worthy of
discharge.
In spite of what appeared to be a reluctant
willingness on the part of the DOD to
compromise on the issue of gays in the
military, the witchhunt is back on with a
vengeance.
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