EDGE Miami

National gay-rights organizations have sharply criticized the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff for saying homosexuality is immoral.

"I believe homosexual acts between two individuals are immoral and that we should not condone immoral acts," Marine Gen. Peter Pace told The Chicago Tribune March 12. He then reiterated his support for the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy by saying, "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 compared homosexuality to a heterosexual service member having an adulterous affair with the spouse of another.

While Pace said he was expressing his personal beliefs, he made the comments during a meeting with the Tribune’s editorial board as the highest-ranking member of the U.S. military.

The Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, the organization advocating for gays in the military, demanded an apology from the general. According to The Associated Press, senior members of Pace’s staff said March 13 that the general had no intention of doing so.

Later in the day the general issued a statement clarifying his position. "In expressing my support for the current policy, I also offered some personal opinions about moral conduct. I should have focused more on my support of the policy and less on my personal moral views," he stated.

"People have a wide range of opinions on this sensitive subject. The important thing to remember is that we have a policy in effect, and the Department of Defense has a statutory responsibility to implement that policy."

Pace added that the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy allows individuals "to serve this nation," but "it does not make a judgment about the morality of individual acts."

Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese took issue with the general’s clarification. "What the chairman fails to admit in his latest statement is that the current policy requires people to hide, misrepresent and deny their basic identities. It also criminalizes gay relationships and is a constant source of stress and fear for our gay and lesbian troops," Solmonese stated. He also asked President George Bush and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates to publicly repudiate Pace’s statements

Earlier in the day, Solmonese said Pace’s remarks to the Tribune editorial board were irresponsible and offensive. The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force called them an insult to all gays, lesbians and bisexuals serving in the military while forced to hide their sexual orientation and an affront to all gay Americans and their families.

Organizations representing gay members of both major political parties also criticized the general’s remarks. The National Stonewall Democrats said it’s the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy that’s immoral. The Log Cabin Republicans said Pace is out of touch with what most Americans and members of the military believe: that it’s okay for gays to serve openly.
"General Pace’s comments are outrageous, insensitive and disrespectful to the 65,000 lesbian and gay troops now serving in our armed forces," SLDN Executive Director Dixon Osburn said in a statement March 12 after the joint chief’s chairman’s remarks appeared on the Tribune’s web site. "Our men and women in uniform make tremendous sacrifices for our country, and deserve General Pace’s praise, not his condemnation. As a Marine and a military leader, General Pace knows that prejudice should not dictate policy. It is inappropriate for the chairman to condemn those who serve our country because of his own personal bias. He should immediately apologize for his remarks."

Osburn also called on Gates to condemn Pace’s remarks and apologize for them.

"What is immoral is to weaken our national security because of personal prejudices," said HRC President Joe Solmonese said. "General Pace’s comments were irresponsible, offensive and a slap in the face to the gay men and women who are currently serving their country with honor and bravery."

In his reaction, NGLTF Executive Director Matt Foreman said it’s the war in Iraq that’s immoral, along with "the reality that Don’t Ask Don’t Tell has resulted in the discharges of an estimated 10,000 service members, including 50 specialists in Arabic, according to a 2005 government audit."

Marine Staff Sgt. Eric Alva, the first service member wounded in the Iraq War who publicly declared he is gay Feb. 28 when Democratic Congressman Marty Meehan of Massachusetts resubmitted his bill to repeal Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, said Pace’s comments represented bigotry.
"Judging gay men and women in the military for factors unrelated to their fitness to serve undermines our military’s effectiveness," said Alva, now an HRC spokesperson on the issue of allowing gays to serve openly. Stating that bigotry should not be a basis for discrimination, Alva added, "This kind of prejudice is going to continue to have a direct impact on our national security as we allow qualified gay men and women to lose their jobs for no good reason. This policy--and General Pace’s bigotry--is outdated, unnecessary, and counter to the same American values our soldiers are giving their lives for each and every day."

Meehan also criticized the general, the AP reported March 13. "General Pace’s statements aren’t in line with either the majority of the public or the military," Meehan said. "He needs to recognize that support for overturning [the policy] is strong and growing" and that the military is "turning away good troops to enforce a costly policy of discrimination."

John Warner of Virginia, the highest-ranking Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, issued a statement that also took issue with the general’s comments. "I respectfully, but strongly disagree with the chairman’s view that homosexuality is immoral," Warner said.

National Stonewall Democrats Executive Director Jo Wyrick called on Bush to condemn the remarks "out of respect for our men and women who are currently serving and dying in Afghanistan and Iraq. It is immoral to send our service members into battle without the proper equipment or plan. It is immoral to deny them proper medical care upon their return and it is immoral to revoke support for our troops based on this misguided policy reaffirmed by General Pace and the White House."

Besides being immoral, the ban on gays serving openly in the military, Wyrick said, threatens national security by dismissing qualified personnel "for political reasons" when they are needed to combat the War on Terror.

The president of the Log Cabin Republicans agreed. "We respect General Pace’s service to our nation, but he has allowed his personal views to get in the way of his duty to his country," Patrick Sammon stated. "Studies have shown-and most Americans agree-that the ’Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ policy is weakening our national security and undermining the War on Terror. It has cost us tens of thousands of service members, many with valuable and hard-to-replace skills crucial to this war."

Sammon added that Pace’s comments are insulting to former sergeant Alva "and thousands of other service members who fight for our country every day."

The Williams Project at UCLA estimates at least 65,000 gay and lesbian Americans are currently serving on active duty and in the reserves. Another one million gays are veterans of the armed forces, according to the study.

A 2006 Zogby poll reported that nearly three-quarters of military members are comfortable serving with gays and lesbians. Nearly one in four of them know that someone in their unit is gay.

Even former leaders of the nation’s military, including former Joint Chiefs Chairman John Shalikashvili and former Defense Secretary William Cohen, say it’s time to do away with Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.