Page 4
The Battalion
Friday, November 13,1992
Court order returns gay sailor to work
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
MOFFETT NAVAL AIR STATION, Calif. -
Keith Meinhold, kicked out of the Navy after
revealing he was homosexual, reclaimed his
job as a sonar instructor Thursday under court
order.
■"This is the day I've looked forward to,”
Meinhold said as he walked onto the military
base with his uniform in a paper bag.
'TT1 be proud and honored to wear the uni
form of my country again.”
The 30-year-old petty officer's reinstatement
wasn't the first time the military has been
forced to take back an openly homosexual sol
dier.
However, after a judge renewed a reinstate
ment order this week for Meinhold, President
elect Clinton announced plans to end the mili
tary's half-century ban on homosexuals.
/ "Part of the reason this case is so important
is because of the attention it has generated,
and because of the political climate in which it
has arisen/' said Benjamin Schatz, a lawyer for
Military debates homosexual rights
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
On the intellectual level, people in the mil
itary say they understand the argument that
homosexuals have the right to serve their
country. On the gut-level, many have doubts
and anxieties.
From the rank-and-file to Pentagon brass,
opponents say homosexuality isn't compati
ble with military life. An open policy would
be divisive, a morale-buster, a likely source
of conflict and turmoil, they contend.
Homosexuals have always been in the
military. But it's been a quiet reality, an ori
entation that could be hidden or overlooked
— unlike a person's color or sex. If trouble
cropped up, a soldier or sailor could be
moved on or out.
Not Keith Meinhold. When the military
See Military /Page 6
the American Association of Physicians for
Human Rights, a San Francisco-based homo
sexual-rights group.
Meinhold was honorably discharged in Au
gust after going on national television and say
ing he was homosexual. He said Thursday
many of his former superiors and co-workers
at Moffett knew for several years he was ho
mosexual.
"I have had wonderful support from people
from all walks of life — this has been very em
powering,” said Moffett, from Palo Alto.
The Pentagon said homosexuality under
mines discipline and morale. The ban has led
to dismissal of an average 1,500 military per
sonnel a year.
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Judges offer plan
to treat drug-users
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
HOUSTON - Two Harris
County judges are hoping to im
plement a Florida program under
which some small-time crack co
caine users get charges against
them dropped if they agree to get
treatment and counseling before
being assigned to intensive proba
tion.
At the end of one or two years,
the case would be dismissed and
the former crack user hopefully
can stay out of further trouble.
But judges Miron Love and Ted
Poe say the small-time offenders
would be warned from the outset
that if they mess up at any point
along the way, they'll return to
court for prosecution on whatever
case it was that got them into trou
ble.
Finding places to house several
thousand drug defendants a year
may turn out to be costly. But
Love said the benefits of diverting
cases out of the criminal justice
system will go beyond decreasing
the load on the 22 courts.
Attorney sues
businesses in
Austin, fights
for disabled
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
AUSTIN — A man who uses a
wheelchair has sued five Austin
businesses alleging that people
with physical disabilities are being
denied access to doorways, re
strooms, pay telephones or park
ing spaces.
The lawsuits, which allege vio
lations of the Americans with Dis
abilities Act, were filed by Chuck
Weir, an assistant city attorney in
San Antonio.
Weir, who was paralyzed in a
diving accident in 1982, said he
filed the lawsuits last week in state
district court in Travis County in
an effort to force the businesses to
renovate.
The federal disability law re
quired businesses with more than
26 employees to make their ser
vices accessible to people with dis
abilities by Jan. 26,1992.
Businesses with 10 or fewer em
ployees must become accessible
by Jan. 26,1993.
"The ADA is a major civil rights
act intended to open the doors
that have been closed to disabled
persons in the past,” said Ginny
Agnew of Austin, Weir's lawyer.
"The doors need to be opened lit
erally and figuratively to persons
with disabilities, and that's the
goal of these lawsuits.”
The lawsuits name Blockbuster
Video, Luby's Cafeteria, an Eckerd
drugstore, a Coco's restaurant and
Miller Blueprint Co.
Officials at Luby's, Blockbuster
Videos and Coco's restaurants said
they had not seen the lawsuits and
declined to comment, the Austin
American-Statesman reported
Thursday.
Bob Miller Jr., manager of
Miller Blueprint office supply and
graphics store, said his store has
just finished renovation plans.
He said the store missed the
January deadline because "we've
been trying to gather information
on how to do it properly and get it
done kind of all at once.”
Gene Ormond, public relations
director for the Jack Eckerd Corp
in Clearwater, Fla., said the com
pany has "done a complete study
of our 1,700 locations in 13 states
to see which locations comply
with the ADA guidelines."
Agnew and Weir said they have
no plans to pursue legal steps if
the five companies agree to make
necessary modifications and pre
sent a reasonable work schedule.
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