"Keeping the Navy Straight"

Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1991. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.

"Keeping the Navy Straight"

Time (12/23/91) Vol. 138, No. 25, P. 42

Abstract: Homosexuals have been banned from the military in the past for undermining morale and possibly being vulnerabile to blackmail. However, last week a U.S. District Judge Oliver Gasch devised a new reason for eliminating gays in a ruling that confirms the U.S. Naval Academy's treatment of a midshipman. The judge asserted that Joseph Steffan, who was forced to resign in 1987 after his commanders learned of his homosexuality, was released to protect soldiers and sailors from AIDS. All applicants are tested for HIV, and anyone who tests positive is denied entry. However, Defense Department lawyers never mentioned AIDS in the case. Staffan's attorney, Paula Ettelbrick, said Gasch, "reached out to grasp some other rationale" to exclude homosexuals because the previous anti-gay arguments had lost credibility.

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