Nation IN BRIEF : WASHINGTON STATE : Sailor Wins Stay in Gay Rule Discharge

A sailor fighting President Clinton’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy for gays in the military won a federal court order blocking the Navy from discharging him. U.S. District Judge William Dwyer in Seattle granted Petty Officer 2nd Class Mark Philips a preliminary injunction and scheduled a hearing Feb. 22. A Navy board of inquiry had recommended that Philips, a machinist’s mate on a nuclear submarine, be discharged. Philips’ lawyers had argued that the rule violates First Amendment guarantees of free speech, Fifth Amendment guarantees of equal protection and Philips’ right to privacy.