The
nation’s
top
general
drew
renewed
attention
to
the
military’s
“Don’t
Ask,
Don’t
Tell”
policy
this
week
after
referring
to
gay
sex
as
“immoral.”
Marine
Gen.
Peter
Pace,
chair
of
the
Joint
Chiefs
of
Staff,
on
Monday
told
the
Chicago
Tribune
that
he
supports
“Don’t
Ask,
Don’t
Tell,”
which
bans
gays
from
serving
openly
in
the
armed
forces.
Pace,
who
has
long
supported
the
policy
crafted
under
President
Bill
Clinton,
reiterated
his
stance
during
an
interview.
“I
believe
homosexual
acts
between
two
individuals
are
immoral
and
that
we
should
not
condone
immoral
acts,”
he
said.
“I
do
not
believe
the
United
States
is
well
served
by
a
policy
that
says
it
is
OK
to
be
immoral
in
any
way.”
Pace
later
acknowledged
that
he
intertwined
his
personal
and
professional
stances
when
he
discussed
the
“Don’t
Ask,
Don’t
Tell”
policy.
“In
expressing
my
support
for
the
current
policy,
I
also
offered
some
personal
opinions
about
moral
conduct,”
he
said
in
a
statement.
“I
should
have
focused
more
on
my
support
of
the
policy
and
less
on
my
personal
moral
views.”
Pace’s
comments
triggered
a
flurry
of
responses
from
gay
rights
advocates,
including
Servicemembers
Legal
Defense
Network
Executive
President
C.
Dixon
Osburn.
“General
Pace’s
comments
are
outrageous,
insensitive
and
disrespectful
to
the
65,000
lesbian
and
gay
troops
now
serving
in
our
armed
forces,”
he
said.
“Our
men
and
women
in
uniform
make
tremendous
sacrifices
for
our
country
and
deserve
General
Pace’s
praise,
not
his
condemnation.”
While
several
organizations
called
on
Pace
this
week
to
apologize,
others
defended
him.
“If
there
is
any
apologizing
that
needs
to
be
done,”
said
Phil
Magnan
of
Biblical
Family
Advocates,
“it’s
by
homosexual
advocates
who
have
drawn
millions
of
young
people,
including
soldiers,
into
a
destructive,
immoral
and
unhealthy
lifestyle.”
The
Center
for
Military
Readiness
—
which
seeks
to
ban
all
gays
from
serving
in
the
armed
forces
—
called
the
demands
for
an
apology
ridiculous.
“General
Pace
expressed
his
opinion
what
he
sees
as
a
moral
issue,”
said
Elaine
Donnelly,
the
group’s
executive
director.
“That
is
hardly
unusual.
I
see
no
need
for
anyone
to
demand
an
apology.”
But
former
Army
Sgt.
Bleu
Copas,
a
gay
Arabic
linguist
who
was
honorably
discharged
in
2006
after
he
was
outed,
said
he
was
infuriated
by
Pace’s
comments.
“I
think
he
needs
to
apologize,”
Copas
said.
“I
think
it’s
very
careless
for
someone
in
his
position
to
allow
his
own
personal
interests
to
conflict
with
the
professional
nature
of
his
job.”
Pace
previously
avoided
intertwining
his
personal
and
professional
views.
Following
a
June
1990
brawl
in
which
four
Marines
were
accused
of
attacking
three
gay
men
outside
a
Capitol
Hill
gay
bar,
Pace,
then
a
colonel
and
barracks
commander,
agreed
to
meet
with
gay
activists
to
discuss
ways
to
avoid
future
confrontations
between
gays
and
Marines.
In
the
aftermath
of
the
attack,
Pace
directed
the
Marines
under
his
command
to
“recognize
and
respect
the
rights
of
all
others
regardless
of
race,
color,
religion,
sex,
or
sexual
orientation,”
according
to
a
Blade
report
from
the
time.
Nonetheless,
some
experts
said
Pace’s
comments
could
recast
the
“Don’t
Ask,
Don’t
Tell”
debate
in
Congress.
Rep.
Marty
Meehan
(D-Mass.)
last
month
reintroduced
a
bill
that
would
allow
gays
to
serve
openly
in
the
military.
The
measure
is
pending
before
a
House
armed
forces
committee.
“People
in
the
Pentagon
have
been
pretending
for
14
years
that
the
policy
is
based
on
concerns
about
military
effectiveness
and
we’ve
known
all
along
that’s
not
true,”
said
Aaron
Belkin,
a
University
of
California
professor
who
specializes
in
the
issue.
“The
real
reason
is
morality,
and
now
Pace
is
finally
telling
the
truth
about
that.”
David
Segal,
director
of
the
Center
for
Research
on
Military
Organization
at
the
University
of
Maryland,
said
although
Pace
noted
his
comments
were
a
mix
of
personal
and
professional
views,
the
statements
could
haunt
him
on
Capitol
Hill.
“I
don’t
know
that
the
chairman
of
the
Joint
Chiefs
can
separate
himself
from
his
role,”
Segal
said,
“simply
by
saying
I’m
not
speaking
as
chairman
of
the
Joint
Chiefs.”
Belkin
said
Pace’s
comments
indicate
that
he’s
willing
to
undermine
military
effectiveness
“just
to
support
the
moral
code
of
the
religious
right.”
The
U.S.
armed
forces
discharged
612
gay
service
members
in
2006.
Since
the
military
began
discharging
gays
in
1994
under
the
policy,
about
11,000
men
and
women
have
been
kicked
out
of
the
military.
“I
think
it
shows
he’s
willing
to
put
his
morality
above
what’s
good
for
the
military,”
Belkin
said.
“It’s
simply
stunning.”
Leading
presidential
contenders,
including
Sen.
Hillary
Clinton
(D-N.Y.)
and
former
New
York
Gov.
Rudy
Giuliani,
have
said
they
want
gays
to
serve
openly
in
the
military.
Sen.
John
McCain
(R-Ariz.),
who
trails
Giuliani
in
most
Republican
presidential
contender
polls,
supports
“Don’t
Ask,
Don’t
Tell.”
But
the
positions
maintained
by
McCain
and
Pace
are
an
increasingly
minority
position.
A
poll
last
year
by
the
Pew
Research
Center
found
60
percent
of
Americans
think
gays
should
be
allowed
to
serve
openly.
In
a
separate
poll
last
year
of
545
soldiers
who
served
in
Iraq
and
Afghanistan,
73
percent
of
troops
said
they
were
comfortable
interacting
with
gay
service
members.
Log
Cabin
Republicans
reiterated
the
statistics
in
a
statement
denouncing
Pace’s
comments.
“General
Pace’s
remarks
are
out
of
touch
with
most
Americans
and
the
majority
of
men
and
women
on
the
ground
serving
under
his
leadership,”
said
Patrick
Sammon,
the
group’s
executive
director.
“We
respect
General
Pace’s
service
to
our
nation,
but
he
has
allowed
his
personal
views
to
get
in
the
way
of
his
duty
to
his
country.”
