Worker to Push for Gay Rights in Service

Thomas A. Swann, a gay civilian employee at the Point Mugu Naval Air Warfare Center, says he has decided to launch a campaign in Ventura County to rally support for lifting the military’s ban on homosexuals in uniform.

Swann said he sees himself pushing for gay and lesbian civil rights in the military the same way that African-Americans pressed to integrate the armed forces after World War II.

“It’s the same kind of civil rights issue--equal employment opportunity--just a new group,” Swann, of Ventura, said Monday.

Swann, 34, is a former Marine who reviews missile contracts at the base, where he has worked since 1986.

Swann said his mission is advocating President-elect Bill Clinton’s objective of lifting the military’s prohibition against homosexuals in uniform.

The Defense Department has no policy on gay and lesbian civilian employees of the military, but since 1982 it has held that homosexuality is incompatible with military service.

Swann said he wants to push his cause both on the Point Mugu base and through off-base activities in Ventura County. He said he plans to conduct an off-base media campaign and also is prepared to put forward his position in the base newspaper, “The Missile,” and to the base’s labor union.

Swann has asked the Navy to sponsor his attendance at a pre-presidential inaugural reception in Washington on Jan. 19 honoring Los Angeles gay and lesbian activist David Mixner, a major Clinton fund-raiser. He said he expects a decision soon.

Point Mugu Cmdr. Douglas F. Hargrave, executive assistant to the base’s admiral, characterized Swann as “a fine young man trying to stand up for his own beliefs. I’m not sure what his specific goals are, but his performance here has been really outstanding.”