Gays-in-Military Agreement Near, President Says

President Clinton, paving the way for a final compromise to lift the military ban on homosexuals, said Thursday his Administration is “very close” to resolving the controversy with an order that would “accept people as people and give them a chance to serve if they play by the rules.”

In the clearest indication yet of the direction he will take, Clinton said he could accept some version of the “don’t ask/don’t tell” compromise under which service members would not be asked to reveal their sexual orientation and, conversely, would be ordered not to declare their homosexuality.

But in a crucial qualification, the President said it would be necessary to amend the widely touted “don’t ask/don’t tell” compromise, favored by many powerful lawmakers, so that homosexuals could not be reported by other service members and summarily ejected from the military.

“If you don’t ask and you don’t say, and you’re not forced to confront it, people should be allowed to serve,” Clinton said.

A knowledgeable Administration official conceded that the conditions sought by Clinton depart from the position favored by Sen. Sam Nunn (D-Ga.), the powerful chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee and a staunch opponent of Clinton’s bid to lift the military’s prohibition on service by homosexuals.

Nunn’s “don’t ask/don’t tell” option would restrict gay service members from revealing their homosexuality. Nunn, who favors issuing a detailed rule book regulating the behavior of homosexuals, also wants to limit the latitude military commanders have in dealing with homosexuals within their units.

But knowledgeable officials said the compromise Clinton is expected to embrace would make allowances for some openness on the part of gay service members and allow military commanders some latitude in deciding whether a homosexual service member is disruptive to a unit’s morale and cohesiveness.

At the same time, Clinton appeared to bow to conservative opponents of his plan, stressing that “we are trying to work this out so that our country does not . . . appear to be endorsing a gay lifestyle.”

In a speech late Thursday on the Senate floor, Nunn hailed Clinton’s comments, saying Clinton “indicated that he understood that for a great many people in this country, this issue touches on deeply held moral or philosophical beliefs.”

At the same time, he warned that the compromise position advanced last week by Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), a leading gay congressman, “would create an off-base safe haven for homosexual conduct” and would erode the military’s ability to enforce its strictures over service members in a wide range of cases.

Frank last week urged gay activists to accept a compromise in which gay service members, while in uniform, would be expected to maintain silence about their homosexuality. But it would give them freedom to practice their homosexuality while off-duty and off-base and would bar the military from investigating their sexual behavior during those times.

Gay activists responded with caution to the Clinton comments, which come just six weeks before a final policy is to be put in place by the President.

“We continue to support President Clinton’s commitment to judging service members by their conduct and requiring service members to play by the rules,” said Torie Osborn, executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force.

“However, current descriptions of the ‘don’t ask/don’t tell’ proposal would not do that. The policy would set different standards of conduct and create different rules for gay and lesbian service members than for heterosexual service members. We can’t support any compromise that enforces discrimination against gay and lesbian people.”

Different standards of conduct do appear to be at the heart of several proposals emerging from the Pentagon, where a team of military officials is drafting compromises for Defense Secretary Les Aspin to present to Clinton as early as next week.

One solution presented to Aspin last week was a broad endorsement of the Frank proposal, which essentially would establish one code of conduct for service members while in uniform and on duty and another code of conduct when out of uniform and off-base.

Nunn on Thursday sharply criticized the Frank compromise, saying that an openly homosexual service member would disrupt a unit’s combat effectiveness even if he or she remained closeted on base. He added that Frank’s proposal “is far more permissive than President Clinton’s position.”

Defense officials said the Pentagon’s working group has also advanced an offshoot of the compromise that Nunn favors that is sometimes called “don’t ask/don’t shout.” Under this compromise, gay service members would be instructed to be discreet in revealing their homosexuality.

But gay men and lesbians could not be expelled from the military if their colleagues or commanders merely guessed at or gleaned their sexual orientation in the absence of inappropriate on-the-job sexual behavior.

Other options laid before Aspin last week included a compromise that would place greater restrictions on uniformed gays’ public displays of affection than on heterosexuals.