Mar 16, 2007  |  By: JOSHUA LYNSEN  | COMMENTS     

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 ...