Keep Gays Out Of Military Colin Powell Says
      Doreen Brandt
    365Gay.com

     Friday 7 March 2003

     Washington, D.C. - US Secretary of State Colin Powell says gays and lesbians do not belong in the military. In an interview with the online teen magazine TeenInk.com Powel defended 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell'.

     While denouncing homophobia and acknowledging the work of lesbian, gay and bisexual Americans at the State Department, the former head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff noted that ". . . I think it's a different matter with respect to the military, because you're essentially told who you're going to live with, who you're going to sleep next to."

     His remarks to the teenage readers was in direct conflict with a recent study that shows that lifting the ban on lesbian, gay and bisexual service members would not compromise the privacy of heterosexual troops. The study, by  Professor Aaron Belkin of the University of California-Santa Barbara and Melissa S. Embser-Herbert appears in  the current issue of International Security.

     Powell's defense of 'Don't Ask' also comes as the number of calls increase to an organization providing legal help to gay soldiers.

     The Servicemembers Legal Defense Network says it received a record 170 requests for help between January 1st and March 1st, a thirty percent increase over the same period in 2002.

     The calls for assistance come as American troops mobilize for a possible conflict in Iraq and amidst continued reports of anti-gay harassment within the armed forces.

     SLDN's legal team includes two full-time staff attorneys and a legal director, who field an average of twenty-five new calls for help each week.

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