Navy Rejects Gay Activist’s Request

Navy officials at Point Mugu on Wednesday rejected the request of a civilian gay rights activist on the base that he be appointed a Pentagon-based Navy liaison official to the gay and lesbian community.

The request was made by Thomas A. Swann, 34, of Ventura, a program analyst at the Point Mugu Naval Air Warfare Center.

Swann has been pushing to lift the Defense Department’s ban against homosexuals in uniform. The Pentagon has no policy on gay and lesbian civilian workers.

“It is not appropriate for us to sponsor him because there’s been no request from anyone” to create such a position, said Capt. Douglas Cook, the center’s vice commander.

Cook’s comment came after a Wednesday morning meeting with Swann, which was also attended by Point Mugu Cmdr. Douglas F. Hargrave, Navy Judge Advocate Lawrence Westholm and Scott Miller, the base’s civilian counsel.

Swann, a former Marine, said in a written statement after the meeting that he “could improve communication between the U. S. Navy and the various gay and lesbian organizations whose leaders are so prominent in the new Administration.”

“This would be a dramatic change in policy for the U. S. Navy to actually put an openly gay veteran and civilian . . . employee in an important and highly visible position,” the statement said.

President-elect Bill Clinton has said he is unequivocally committed to lifting the military’s prohibition against homosexuals in uniform as long as their conduct does not conflict with their efficiency.

Cook said Navy officials also rejected Swann’s request that the Navy sponsor his attendance at a pre-presidential inaugural reception in Washington next month honoring Los Angeles gay and lesbian activist David Mixner.

“He is certainly free to go as a private citizen,” Cook said. However, Cook said it would be inappropriate for the Navy to pick up Swann’s expenses for the trip.

Swann has told reporters that he was recently contacted by a reportedly gay pilot at the Point Mugu base, who said that he and another gay pilot were apprehensive about the Pentagon’s position on homosexuals in uniform.

Swann said that he was asked at Wednesday’s meeting whether he knew the pilots’ identity, and that he replied, “No.”

Moreover, Swann said he told the officials that “there’s no way I could verify the information about the pilots or if the call was a hoax.”

Declared Cook after the meeting: “Based on that, there’s no reason to pursue it.”