Date: Thu, 9 Mar 1995 17:25:05 -0500 From: David B. O'Donnell To: Multiple recipients of list GLB-NEWS Subject: Navy Allows Use of Poster To Illustrate `Conduct Unbecoming' [ Send all responses to chagin@ATLANTA.COM only. Any responses to the list or list-owners will be returned to you. ] Date: Wed, 8 Mar 1995 Navy Allows Use of Poster To Illustrate `Conduct Unbecoming' SAN FRANCISCO -- The Navy reversed course Wednesday on a recruiting poster featuring a midshipman later discharged for being gay, and will allow the image to illustrate a book on homosexuals in the military. ApolloMedia had asked permission to use the 1972 poster in a CD-ROM version of ``Conduct Unbecoming,'' the late Randy Shilts' book on the history of gays and lesbians in the armed forces. ``It showed us we could stand up for what we believe is right,'' said Clinton Fein, president of the company. The poster depicted two U.S. Naval Academy midshipmen, including Lt. Ed Graves, the first black featured on a Navy recruiting poster. Graves was later discharged as a homosexual, and gave the poster to ApolloMedia for use with Shilts' book, the company said. The Navy initially refused ApolloMedia permission to use the poster. Company officials pledged to include it anyway, and said the software would reach store shelves by Friday. Naval Academy spokesman Noel Milan in Annapolis, Md., said Wednesday that last-minute negotiations between the two sides resolved the issue. Along with the poster, ApolloMedia will include a disclaimer and two letters from the Navy saying use of the image was not authorized. ``That satisfied Naval Academy concerns,'' said Milan. ApolloMedia officials -- who earlier criticized the Navy for ``hypocrisy'' on the issue -- said they were not surprised the Navy backed down. ``They did the right thing,'' Fein said. ``And it was the CD-ROM that armed us to know they would back down.'' Shilts' book shows that taking on the Navy works, he said. When gays went public and fought, they received honorable discharges. When they didn't, Fein said, they were dishonorably discharged. Company spokesman Scott Shafer said ApolloMedia had stopped production of ``Conduct Unbecoming'' for a week while trying to resolve the dispute. He said company lawyers finally concluded the company had the right to use the poster and were prepared to do legal battle. The company says the CD-ROM package includes the full text of Shilts' book plus 2,000 additional images, government reports on gays in the military, and video interviews. ``Our aim is to put a human face and a human voice to Randy Shilts' important research,'' said Tracy Cohen of ApolloMedia. ``We also wanted to elevate this issue and honor these members of the armed services using the latest technology.''