Panel Urges Discharge of Gay Reservist

Army officials Sunday recommended an honorable discharge for Reserve Lt. Steve May, an openly gay Arizona lawmaker the Army said violated its “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy by acknowledging his sexuality during a legislative debate.

Officials wouldn’t disclose why a panel of three Army colonels recommended an honorable discharge after the Army had pursued an other than honorable, general discharge. Honorable discharges are typical for soldiers forced to leave the military because of sexual orientation.

“We presented the position that we thought was justified in this case,” said Maj. Mark Johnson, who argued the military’s case.

May’s attorney, Christopher Wolf, said the investigation was a personal attack on the legislator’s integrity. May’s record is unblemished, and he has been rated an exceptional officer.

“We believe the board ignored the facts and ignored the law,” Wolf said.

May said he still considers himself a member of the reserves.

“I’m still in,” he said Sunday. “I’ll continue to serve until the appeals process is exhausted.”

The discharge recommendation will be reviewed by an appointing authority, typically an Army general, and then be sent to Department of Defense personnel authorities, officials said. Until that review is completed, probably within three months, May will continue to serve two days a month in the reserves.

The Army could have allowed May to remain in the reserves by declaring that doing so would be for the good of the military, Wolf said. The three colonels hearing the case where May’s reserve unit is based rejected that argument Sunday.

The Army began investigating May after he acknowledged his homosexuality in the Arizona Statehouse in a 1999 hearing on a bill that would have prohibited government benefits for employees’ gay partners. May had been open about his sexuality since his first campaign for elected office in 1996.