Lesbian Army Officer Wins Battle in Court : Military: Federal judge orders reinstatement of Col. Margarethe Cammermeyer. Ruling raises questions about ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ policy.

The highest-ranking military officer ever to challenge the armed forces over sexual orientation was ordered reinstated Wednesday in a ruling so broad as to cast doubt on the Clinton Administration’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy for homosexuals.

Army Col. Margarethe Cammermeyer, a Vietnam War veteran and Bronze Star recipient, won at least the first step in her case to resume her 26-year military career. U.S. District Judge Thomas Zilly’s order held that the military could not discriminate against homosexuals just because of society’s prejudices.

“Mere negative attitudes, or fear, are constitutionally impermissible bases for discriminatory governmental policies,” Zilly wrote in his 51-page ruling. “Prejudice, whether founded on unsubstantiated fears, cultural myths, stereotypes or erroneous assumptions, cannot be the basis for a discriminatory classification.”

Under longstanding but now revised rules of military service, Cammermeyer had been forced out of the military in 1992 after she was asked about her sexual orientation and replied that she was a lesbian. The question arose while she was being interviewed for a security clearance.

At the time, her distinguished service in the Army and the National Guard won her a great many sympathizers, including the governor of Washington and the chief nurse of the Army, who described Cammermeyer as a “great American.”

Even in discharging her, the military rated her as qualified to lead the Army nurse corps and to represent her profession “anywhere in the world.”

Zilly’s decision followed at least two other federal court rulings on behalf of members of the armed forces who were discharged for being homosexuals. All resulted from a 1991 decision by the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, which held that the Pentagon would have to show a “rational basis” to sustain its policy against homosexuals.

Zilly said arguments presented by two military officials--one a general and one a former defense secretary--failed to meet that test.

“The rationales offered by the government to justify its exclusion of homosexual service members are grounded solely in prejudice,” he said.

“Both witnesses testified to the effect that the government’s objections to homosexual service is based solely on the fears and prejudices of heterosexual service members.”

Cammermeyer appeared before Zilly in April. “I served for 26 years. To get all that thrown in my face at this point about being unfit or undermining morale--haven’t I in some way shown that’s not the case?”

Since Cammermeyer’s discharge, the military has changed its rules regarding sexual orientation. The current policy of the Administration is not to ask uniformed personnel about their sexual orientation but to continue to forbid homosexual behavior by men and women in the military.

Attorneys who represent homosexuals said Zilly’s ruling was significant not only because of Cammermeyer’s high rank and long service, but because it was so sweeping as to invite a challenge to any type of military discrimination against homosexuals.

“This is a terrific ruling; it’s very strong,” said Mary Newbombe, who worked on Cammermeyer’s case as cooperative council for the Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, a homosexual-rights group.

“The rationale that Zilly used, the evidence that he considered, would apply equally to the ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ policy,” she said.

So far, there have been no court rulings on the Administration’s military policy toward homosexuals, although a federal judge in April issued a temporary injunction forbidding the discharge of six members of the armed forces who filed suit to fight the policy.

Cammermeyer, 52, the mother of four, now works at the Department of Veterans Affairs hospital at American Lake, near Tacoma, Wash. She described herself Wednesday as “absolutely ecstatic. I feel like a kid. . . . The first thing I did was holler so everybody at the hospital knew what was going on.”

“It seems like a vindication of all the struggles so many of us have had. I can’t say that I’m speechless--I can’t afford to be. It’s just very exciting.”

Her attorneys said they hoped Cammermeyer might instantly be reinstated with the state National Guard. But in the two previous 9th Circuit cases--including that of sailor Keith Meinhold, who won a lower-court ruling saying the military’s exclusion of homosexuals was unconstitutional--the Pentagon has appealed and very well may do so in this case too.