Subject: Navy Bans Gay Discrimination

From: Mills Mike <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 9 Jun 1994 13:36:25 -0700

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Navy Secretary John Dalton has banned
discrimination against the service's civilian employees based on
sexual orientation, the Navy said Wednesday.
        The directive applies to the service's 252,000 civilian
employees, and is in line with regulations issued by the Equal
Employment Opportunity Commission, a spokesman said.
        The Navy is the first armed service to issue such a statement,
but others are expected to follow suit. The spokesman said the Navy
apparently is the first service branch to get its paperwork
completed.
        ``Our continued success requires that each civilian employee and
applicant be afforded the opportunity to excel without regard to
his or her race, color, gender, sexual orientation, religion,
national origin, age or disability,'' Dalton said in a statement
issued May 23.
        The statement does not apply to the Navy's 480,000 uniformed men
and women, who are covered under the ``don't ask, don't tell''
rules issued last year by the Pentagon. Those rules provide for the
discharge of gays and lesbians who engage in homosexual activity.