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Court Rules Gay Sergeant Fit For Duty An eleven member panel of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled May 4 that the Army must reinstate Sergeant Perry Watkins, a gay man who was discharged in 1984 after 14 years of admitted exemplary service. The ruling side-stepped, however, a previous decision that used Watkin's case to extend constitutional civil rights protection to gays and lesbians. The federal appeals court said the Army could not enforce its 1981 ban against homosexuals in the Watkins case because they had re-enlisted him three times since the voluntary disclosure of his sexual orientation when he joined the service in 1967. Legal experts do not believe the narrowly worded decision will apply to other cases filed against the armed forces by gays and lesbians. Watkins was quoted by the Associated Press as saying that he thought the decision "was a wonderful ruling." He did not, at the time of the interview, know whether he would re-enlist. Sources close to Watkins, however, say that he is "seriously considering the opportunity." Leaders of national gay/lesbian organizations called the ruling "historic and a resounding victory in Perry Watkin's favor" that attacked "the hypocrisy of the military system of justice." Writing for the majority, Justice Harry Pregerson said, "Sergeant Watkins has greatly benefited the Army, and therefore the country, by his military' service.... In addition, Watkin's homosexuality clearly has not hurt the Army in any way." Quoting from an Army Review Board report, Pregerson noted that the "morale and discipline of Watkins' unit had been unaffected (by his sexual orientation)." Although finding in Watkin's favor, the eleven judges ignored a June 1988 decision that ordered Watkins reinstatement because he was a gay man, and thus a minority deserving of protection under civil rights laws. The 1988 decision said that Watkins' sexual orientation made him "subject to long-standing persecution and political powerlessness," and a minority with similar status under civil rights laws as people of color and women. Sue Hyde, director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force's Privacy Project and a spokesperson with the Military Freedom Project, said the narrowness of the ruling would probably work in the gay/lesbian community's favor if the case is appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. Hyde said that the ruling is so direct that legal scholars would find little way to attack it beyond trying Watkins on his personal record alone. She would not predict which way the Supreme Court would decide if the case is appealed. "The military has appealed every decision that has gone PHOTO COURTESY ETC Perry Watkins at the '88 Democratic National Convention in Atlanta. His military discharge was overturned last week by a federal court, which declared the gay sgt. an asset to the Army. against it in respect to gay or lesbian solders," Hyde noted, "so it would be consistent with their legal history to appeal (this case)." Unfortunately, Hyde said, the narrowness of the ruling leaves many gay and lesbian service members hanging with nowhere to turn. "The court failed to understand that Watkins' case was not unique and that there are literally thousands and thousands of gay and lesbian service members who suffer the same kind of discrimination as he did." "This is the first time, however, that the U.S. Army has been ordered to re-enlist a gay or lesbian service member," noted Hyde. "The military is being forced to acknowledge Perry Watkins as an outstanding sergeant and that is directly contrary to what they say about homosexuals. "Perry's case will become another brick in the wall our community is building," Hyde added, "in our argument that sexual orientation is a non factor when evaluating a person's ability to perform a job." -Chris Duncan In .CeiebratiQn of Mother’s Day Mom Grateful for Gay Kids Lauretta Rouse was convinced her son was dead. She'd had no contact with him for a year. Her cards went unanswered and her phone calls to him connected her to a recording saying his line was disconnected. Jeff, her only son, with whom she was very close-had disappeared. He had dropped out of the Navy and moved to Denver, Colorado, where he told her he had gone to "work something out." That was the last she had heard from him until she got a letter from the 22-year-old explaining where he was and what he was feeling. "The letter said 'I love men the same way you love men' and then he asked if I would please Lauretta Rouse continue to love him," said Mrs. Rouse. "I was hysterical. I called a friend...and then I called him to say I loved him but I was too upset to talk. But I did want him to know I loved him." A short time later, Mrs. Rouse received a phone call from a Denver-based group called Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG). Soon after that, she received a package from them containing reading materials and information to help her adjust to the trauma Jeffs announcement had brought Jeff, now 28, had been working with PFLAG in Denver and had asked the group to contact his mother. "I had been around gay people before, but I just kept thinking I own this one," smiled Mrs. Rouse. "At first I thought it was a Cont'd Page 5 State Recruits Gays to Parent "AIDS Babies" The question Where do I come fjom?' may start popping up in gay/lesbian households more often if the Georgia Department of Human Resources (DHR) sueceeds in its special recruitment drive to attract gays and lesbians as foster parents for children who have AIDS. The new program, Foster Love, ran into stiff criticism, however, during its debut presentation before the Metropolitan Atlanta Council of Gay and Lesbian Organizations (MACGLO) April 26. Foster Love representatives indicated that removal of the child from a gay/lesbian home would be among the first moves the agency would lake if the public takes issue with the sexual orientation of the foster parents. MACGLO members, who supported the program in principle, were angered by state official's lack of foresight in this matter. Joyce Goldberg, a DHR spokesperson, said there were no contingency plans to deal with homophobically motivated attacks against the program, and admitted that her agency had "not put a lot of thought" into protecting the new families the program will create. She said that agency officials were blinded to the dilemmas raised by placing children in a gay/lesbian household in their zeal to help the children, over half of whom do not have a life expectancy greater than three years. Goldberg said she could not commit her agency to defend gay or lesbian parents if homophobic elements try to have a child removed because of the parents' sexual orientation. "(Gay/lesbian) families have to live in the community at large," Goldberg said. "And neither judges nor social workers are immune to (societal pressures). If the child needs a stable environment, then it may mean having to remove the child (from the gay/lesbian household.)" "What we're trying to do is place these children in loving homes," Goldberg said. "We don't want children to languish in an institution." If an attack were leveled against a family, however, Goldberg said "then we may have to place the children somewhere else." Foster Love is an attempt by DHR's Division of Family and Children Services (DFACS) and Kellogg Associates, a private consulting firm, to recruit "minority communities" to enter the rigorous foster parent screening and training program. AIDS experts estimate that the number of pediatric AIDS cases in Georgia will overwhelm the current foster parent system Cont'd Page 5