No constitutional
guarantee for
homosex
In a decision on August 17, saying that it
finds “no constitutional right to engage in
homosexual conduct," the (J.S. Court of
Appeals in Washington, D.C. ruled against
former Navy petty officer James L Dronen-
burg. The decision reaffirmed a district court
ruling that upheld the Navy’s discharge of
Dronenburg in 1981 for engaging in sex with
another seaman.
Dronenburg’s appeal was denied in a
strongly worded, broadly written 21-page de
cision by Circuit Judge Robert Bork, a
Reagan appointee and potential Supreme
Court appointee. Bork’s opinion said that the
Navy’s policy of discharging gays did not
violate Dronenburg’s rights to privacy and his
right to equal protection under the law.
“We find it impossible to conclude that a
right to homosexual conduct is fundamental’
or ‘implicit in the concept of ordered liberty’
unless any and all private sexual behavior
falls within those categories, a conclusion we
are unwilling to draw,” Bork wrote. The other
two members of the appeals panel were Rea
gan appointee, Circuit Judge Antonin Scalia,
and Nixon appointee to the U.S. District
Court for the Central District of California,
Judge David Williams.
Bork concluded that the Navy’s policy of
discharging lesbians and gays “serves legiti
mate state interests," therefore Dronenburg
had no fundamental right to engage in
homosex.
“The effects of homosexual conduct
within a naval or miliary unit are almost cer
tain to be harmful to morale and discipline,”
wrote Bork.
Dronenburg was discharged from the
Navy in 1981 after nine years of exemplary
service. He was a highly valued Korean
language specialist and had been given a
$12,000 re-enlistment bonus shortly before
his discharge. “Jim was kicked out simply
because he is gay,” said Leonard Graff, Na
tional Gay Rights Advocates Legal Director.
“They didn’t judge him on his individual abil
ity to serve but rather on outmoded stereo
types. We believe this action violates Jim's
constitutional rights and we re going to seek
a rehearing en blanc'.' This means that
NGRA will ask all of the judges on the Court of
Appeals to review the decision of the three
judge panel that made this ruling.
Jean O’Leary, NGRA Executive Director,
said: “The Court’s ruling was a real blow for
the gay community. It sanctions an official
government policy that lesbians and gay
men are not good enough to fight and die for
their country,” O’Leary termed the Navy’s pol
icy as one of “irrational discrimination” and
she vowed to continue the challenge.
NGRA’s cooperating counsel on the case
was Stephen V Bomse of Heller, Ehrman,
White & McAuliffe, a prestigious San Fran
cisco law firm. The ACLC1 had filed a “friend
of the court” brief showing how the military’s
arbitrary and discriminatory manner of treat
ing gays paralleled the way they once treated
blacks.
In a related activity, NGRA has instigated a
Government Accounting Office audit of the
Department of Defense. It is expected that
this study will reveal that it costs the taxpayers
at least $20 million a year to exclude gay men
and women from the military.
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Orange Glazed Pork-Lom 6 25
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3lade 'bean Tostada Salad 4.75
Steamed Mussels w/fettua/m,cream
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Just Out September 14-Seotember 28
Reagan firm
against gays
One of the most visible pieces of political
propaganda at the recent Republican Con
vention in Dallas was the Presidential Biblical
Scoreboard, in which President Reagan
states, “We will resist the efforts of some to
obtain government endorsement of homo
sexuality."
The conservative magazine compares the
past statements and voting records of na
tional candidates and portrays Mondale as a
veritable champion of gay rights compared
to Reagan.
In a Reagan statement dated July 12, he
says, “Society has always regarded marital
love as a sacred expression of the bond be
tween a man and a woman. It is the means by
which families are made and society itself is
extended into the future.
"In the Judeo-Christian tradition, it is the
means by which husband and wife partici
pate with God in the creation of a new human
life. It is for these reasons, among others, that
our society has always sought to protect this
unique relationship.
"In part, the erosion of these values has
given way to a celebration of forms of expres
sion most reject” Reagan said in the report
— Montrose Voice
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Proposed AIDS list
stirs uproar
A proposal by a federal official that health
agencies compile lists of patients exposed to
the suspected AIDS virus HTLV-3, has
created an uproar among researchers and
gay spokespersons.
Dr. James Curran, chief of AIDS research
at the Centers for Disease Control, proposed
lists of all patients with any sign of exposure
to AIDS-related viruses. He made the pro
posal in a private memorandum to state
health officials.
Although scientists have yet to confirm de
finitively that the virus — a leukemia virus
called HTLV-3 — causes AIDS, antibodies to
the virus have been found in most AIDS pa
tients tested. Researchers think it will be a
reliable indicator as to whether donated
blood is infected with AIDS.
The executive director of the nation’s
largest AIDS organization, Roger McFarlane
of New York City's Gay Men’s Health Crisis,
called any listing of gays exposed to the AIDS
virus “my worst nightmare," confirming "all
my worst suspicions.”
“It's now clear that their (the federal gov
ernment's) only concern is removing-the risk
of AIDS from the population at large,” said
d ---------------------
rf uou ha vent eaten at -the Metro Cafe
hen art some specials yoùve missed:
McFarlane. “They're not at all concerned with
the male homosexual population.”
The president of the American Association
of Physicians for Human Rights, the national
organization of gay physicians, has written to
the Centers for Disease Control to protest
possible registries.
Dr. Neil Schram wrote, “Since homosexu
ality is illegal in over 20 states, the potential of
that list falling into police hands is
tremendous.”
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The Open Door Theater
presents
EASTSIDE CLINIC
JR’s
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WEST
300 NW 10th
224-1482
LAST 2 WEEKS!
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Original owners since 1977
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7425 SW BARBUR BLVD
(at Terwilliger)
245-2188
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$5.00 at the door. Doors open at 7 p.m.
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