Lift Gay Ban, L.A. Council Urges

The Los Angeles City Council on Tuesday unanimously urged the Clinton Administration and Congress to lift the military’s ban on homosexuals, insisting that the current policy inexcusably relegates gays and lesbians to the ranks of “second-class citizens.”

The council’s resolution was authored by its first openly homosexual member, Jackie Goldberg, who said that the city has an obligation to take a stand on the matter because of its record of support for civil rights.

“The continuation of a policy which requires gay and lesbian citizens to ‘hide’ who they are in order to serve in this nation’s armed forces is a contradiction to this city’s active civil rights advocacy,” Goldberg said in her motion. “Gays and lesbians have served in the military with distinction throughout American history and deserve to be able to continue doing so on the same basis as heterosexual men and women.”