« novemùef 7.2003
news
the Senate sent a strong message that anti-gay
harassment under a commander’s watch will no
longer he ignored.”
-5-
ast month the Senate Judiciary Committee
considered an anti-gay nominee for the
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.
In 1984 Claude Allen served as campaign
aide to U.S. Sen. Jesse Helms, R-N.C., who was
running against Gov. Jim Hunt. A local reporter
quoted Allen as stating that Hunt was vulnera
ble because his campaign could he “linked with
the queers.” Allen then said, “We could expound
on Jim Hunt’s connections with the homosexu
als, the labor union connection, the radical fem
inist connection, the socialist connection."
At a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing
last month, U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., asked
Allen, “Do you understand how some people in
America might take your use of this word
‘queers’ as being negative, to denigrate them,
and not respectful?" Allen asserted that he did
not mean to denigrate homosexuals hut that he
had been referring to the “strange, abnormal,
out-of-the-ordinary individuals and groups”
working on Hunt’s campaign.
“Even if a truthful explanation, it means that
Allen viewed homosexuals as among the
‘strange, abnormal’ groups to w'hich he referred,”
said Eric J. Stem, Democratic National Com
mittee G L B T outreach director. “President
Bush’s nomination...shows that he is clearly
more interested in obtaining more support from
the religious right than in showing compassion
towards G L BT Americans.”
In his current role as deputy secretary of the
Health and Human Services Department, Allen
has been accused by AID S activists and others
of pressing a conservative bias toward
HIV/A1DS issues and of conducting a “witch
hunt” against AIDS advocacy groups.
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C H E V Y
N A T IO N A L
n a closed-door executive session Oct. 23, the
Senate Armed Services Committee confinned
President Bush’s nomination of Maj. Gen. Robert
T. Clark for promotion to lieutenant general, the
Army’s second-highest rank. If later confirmed by
the full Senate, he will take command of the Fifth
U.S. Army at Fort Sam Houston, Texas.
The Senate declined to act on Clark’s nomi
nation for more than a year because of serious
concerns regarding his leadership. He was com
mander of Fort Campbell, Ky., in 1999 when
Pfc. Barry Winchell was bludgeoned to death by
fellow soldiers who believed Winchell was gay.
“There is not, nor has there ever been during
my time here, a climate of homophobia on
post,” Clark said at a news conference prior to
leaving Fort Campbell in 2000.
Under his watch, however, many reports of
anti-gay harassment surfaced in addition to
Winchell’s murder, including anti-gay graffiti and
assault. Clark also implemented a policy that led
to a record number of queer discharges at the post.
A Department of Army Inspector General
report found other troubling facts about his
tenure, including commandwide low morale;
inadequate delivery of health care to soldiers and
their families; and widespread, leader-condoned
underage drinking in the barracks. According to
a report from 60 Minutes, Fort Campbell also saw
an alarming spike in domestic abase cases.
“We are disappointed in the confirmation,”
said C . Dixon Osbum, Servicemembers Legal
Defense Network executive director. “Clark did,
however, undergo unparalleled senitiny by the
Armed Services Committee. For the first time,
I
O n ly 30 min
fro m P o rtla n d
La n ce , Terri ft Erik Berkey
TENNESSEE
.S. Rep. Zach Wamp called homosexuality
a “sickness," an “aberration” and a “sin”
that needs to he “controlled,” The Associated
Press reported Oct. 20. The Tennessee Republi
can added that he believes his “view of what
policy should he is based on the biblical values
from the Old Testament forward.”
Wamp also announced his support for the
anti-^ay Federal Marriage Amendment. Accord
ing to the AP, fellow Tennessee Republican U.S.
Sen. Lamar Alexander said in a statement that he
finds a constitutional amendment “unnecessary."
“We are pleased that Sen. Alexander has dis
tanced himself from the views of Rep. Wamp,
and we call on all members of Congress to
denounce the congressman’s comments,” said
Winnie Stachelberg, Human Rights Campaign
political director. “It’s time for our nation’s lead
ers to send a message that such hateful rhetoric
has no place in our public dialogue.”
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Claude Allen has been nominated for the
U .S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
-o-
ambda Legal filed a discrimination com
plaint Oct. 29 on behalf of a second appli
cant who was rejected for a foreign service job by
the U.S. State Department because he has HIV.
“The State Department is preventing quali
fied, healthy people from serving their coun
try— all while there’s a severe shortage of foreign
service applicants who are badly needed right
now,” attorney Jonathan Givner said. “This isn’t
just had policy— it’s illegal.”
Kyle Smith, a college student in Columbus,
Ohio, applied to he a foreign service office man
agement specialist. After successfully complet
ing the interview process, he was approved for
employment pending medical approval. When
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