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Pace: Homosexuality 'immoral'
13/03/2007 07:56 - (SA)
Washington - The chairperson of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said he considers homosexuality to be immoral and the military should not condone it by allowing gay personnel to serve openly, the Chicago Tribune reported.
Marine General Peter Pace likened homosexuality to adultery, which he said was also immoral, the newspaper reported on Monday on its web site.
"I do not believe the United States is well served by a policy that says it is okay to be immoral in any way," Pace told the newspaper in a wide-ranging interview.
Pace, a native of Brooklyn, New York, and a 1967 graduate of the US Naval Academy, said he based his views on his upbringing.
He said he supports the Pentagon's "don't ask, don't tell policy" in which gay men and women are allowed in the military as long as they keep their sexual orientation private. The policy, signed into law by President Bill Clinton in 1994, prohibits commanders from asking about a person's sexual orientation.
"I believe homosexual acts between two individuals are immoral and that we should not condone immoral acts," Pace said.
The newspaper said Pace did not address concerns raised by a 2005 government audit that showed some 10 000 troops, including more than 50 specialists in Arabic, have been discharged because of the policy.
With Democrats in charge of Congress, Democratic Republican Martin Meehan has introduced legislation to reverse the military's ban on openly serving homosexuals.
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