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Gays should still be able to serve, Pace says

Widely criticized for saying during a March interview that homosexuality is immoral, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs told Congress Wednesday that while he still holds that view, gays, like all Americans, should be able to serve — although not openly — in the U.S. military.

Marine Gen. Peter Pace said he would support any change to the current “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy that would better enable such service.

“Any nation that does not take advantage of the quality, skills, and contributions of any part of its population is doing a disservice to themselves, whether it be cutting out women, cutting out men, cutting out certain kinds of religion, cutting [out] heterosexuals, cutting out homosexuals — anything that prevents those who want to contribute to society from contributing is a mistake on the part of the nation,” said Pace.

He later added, “I would be very willing and able and supportive of any description, whatever change to ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ would continue to allow the homosexual community to contribute to the nation, without condoning what I believe to be activity, whether it be heterosexual or homosexual, that in my upbringing is not right.”

The comments came five days before Pace steps down as chairman and ends a 40-year military career.

In June, Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced that Adm. Michael Mullen would be nominated to replace Pace, who is completing one term as chairman. Gates said his decision not to nominate Pace for another term had nothing to do with his performance, but was a result of Gates’ desire to avoid a likely contentious re-nomination process stemming from Pace’s deep association with the increasingly unpopular Iraq war.

Pace had previously expressed such sentiments about gays in uniform, but not nearly as forcefully. On Wednesday, he told the Senate Appropriations Committee that his March 12 comments to a Chicago Tribune editorial board on the morality of homosexuality were “not reported very accurately.”

He said at the time that the U.S. should welcome “all its citizens,” but expressed support for the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy.

The policy, established in law in 1993, forbids the Defense Department from investigating a service member’s sexual orientation, but requires the department to discharge troops who are caught in a homosexual act, openly state they are homosexual or marry someone of the same gender.

The policy states, “Sexual orientation is considered a personal and private matter ... and is not a bar to service entry or continued service unless manifested by homosexual conduct.”

As such, the law allows gays to serve, Pace said Wednesday. “It makes no judgment about their morality. It gives them the opportunity to serve. We should respect those who want to serve the nation but not, through the law of the land, condone activity that, in my upbringing, is counter to God’s law.”

Protestors start shouting

The latter comment drew catcalls from anti-war protestors at the hearing, held to discuss funding for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, who began shouting at Pace, prompting Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., the committee chairman, to temporarily suspend the hearing.

“Clear the room! Clear the room!” Byrd thundered, pounding his gavel. “I’ve had enough of this!”

The 20 or so protestors, who had prefaced the hearing with shouts and chants and occasionally disrupted the proceedings, were removed, some forcibly.

Pace had been responding to tough questioning by Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa.

“The statements you made in March regarding gays and lesbians in our society and in the military was very hurtful and, I think, very demoralizing, to the thousands of gay men and lesbian women who now serve in our military, and the more who want to serve their country,” Harkin said. “And your statement that homosexual acts are immoral and we shouldn’t condone that in the military, it was very hurtful. Millions of Americans are gay men and lesbian women, and they are some of our most upstanding, law-abiding, moral citizens that we have.

“I don’t want to be discordant, but I didn’t want to see a career like yours end on a note like that. I hope you’ve had time to reflect on that,” Harkin continued. “Your personal views are your personal views. But, once you put those stars on your shoulder, just like when you take an oath of office, to be a secretary or a senator, our personal lives cross over, and we have to be cognizant of our responsibility to society at large when we either become a chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, or United States senator or a secretary.”

In March, Pace told the Tribune board: “I believe homosexual acts between two individuals are immoral and that [the U.S. military] should not condone immoral acts ... I do not believe the United States is well served by a policy that says it is okay to be immoral in any way. ... As an individual, I would not want [acceptance of gay behavior] to be our policy.”

The next day, Pace released a statement clarifying his remarks.

“In expressing my support for the current policy, I also offered some personal opinions about moral conduct,” he said. “I should have focused more on my support of the policy and less on my personal moral views.”

About 23 percent of troops say they are sure that someone in their unit is gay, according to a December Zogby poll. Of those troops, the poll found, 55 percent said they found out directly from the individual.

Roughly 10,700 service members have been kicked out of the military since “don’t ask, don’t tell” went into effect, according to the Pentagon.