End to Military Homosexual Ban Urged

NEW YORK — A report drafted by a military research center and rejected by the Pentagon concluded that the armed forces should allow homosexuals to serve and should end discrimination based on sexual preference, it was reported.

The New York Times said in today’s editions that the draft report, “Nonconforming Sexual Orientations and Military Suitability,” was completed 10 months ago by the Defense Department’s Personnel Security Research and Education Center in Monterey, Calif.

The Pentagon rejected the report as exceeding its mandate and has called it biased, flawed, offensive and wasteful of government resources, the newspaper said, citing internal Pentagon correspondence.

The correspondence said the author went beyond his assigned task of determining security risks posed by homosexuals when he examined the broader question of the suitability of homosexuals for military duty, the paper said.

The Pentagon has long held that homosexual conduct in the military undermines discipline. Its policy on homosexuals has faced legal challenges in recent years, and a number of court cases are pending.