But now Lt. Thome wants to go public
and to bring to the country just how archa-
ic and absurd this law is. Several months
ago, General Colin Powell, Chairman of
the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and an African-
American, was quoted on his stance about
lesbians and gays in the armed forces. He
thinks it would be detrimental to put open-
ly gay men in the armed forces where they
would be living in close proximity with
straight men. That would make life very
uncomfortable for straight men and cause
dissension. Tracy Thome’s reaction to
General Powe1l’s comments were: Just a
few years back, when blacks and others
were beginning to fight for the integration
of the armed forces the argument against it
was that no white soldier would be willing
to take orders from a black man. “Isn’t it
ironic that now, I and every other white
soldier in the armed forces takes our or-
ders from a black man.” Lieutenant
Thome added that he has the utmost re-
spect for General Powell.

The armed forces of the U.S., like the
armed forces of any other country is ap-
proximately 10% gay. Lesbians and gays
are in the armed forces, whether they are
closeted or not.

America will remain a land with archaic
laws and mostly closeted gays and les-
bians until some of the highly visible pol-
iticians, athletes, actors and actresses who
happen to be gay come out of the closet.

Anyhow, hooray for Tracy Thome for over-

coming that fear and for taking a chance.
You are a brave soldier Lieutenant. V

Cammermeyer
Discharged

Tracy Thome is not the first member of the
armed forces to come out publicly and de-
fend his or her right to serve. In fact the
first was a woman, former Army reserve
Captain Dusty Pruitt, Pruitt was discharged
front the Army reserves in 1983 following
publication in the Los Angeles Times of an
intaview about her ministry with the Met-
ropolitan Community Church. Last Au-
gust the Ninth Circuit Comt ruled that
Pruitt must be allowed to continue her law-
suit challenging the policy banning gays
and lesbians from serving in the armed
forces.

Most recently, Colonel Margaret Carn-
mermeyer, earned the dubious distinction
of being one of the highest ranking mem-
bers of the armed forces discharged from
service because of the Pentagon’s policy
against lesbians and gays. Cammermeyer,
chief of nursing for Washington State’s
Anny National Guard, has served in the
military for 26 years. She ‘ served 14
months in a war zone in Vietnam, winning
a Bronze Star. Three years ago, during a
top security clearance investigation needed
to take courses at the National War Col-
lege, Cammermeyer disclosed that she was
a lesbian. As a result, a military board rec-
ommended that she be honorably dis-
charged. The commander of the Washing-
ton State National Guard said he must
carry out that recommendation despite the
“personal anguish” he says it is causing

Colonel Cammermeyer stated, ‘‘I am being
discharged for my honesty and integrity.
Had I lied, I might have achieved my am-
bition of becoming Chief Nurse (of the
U.S. National Guard).” V

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