Dismiss Open Gays, Pentagon Memo Says : Military: Clinton still backs lifting ban on homosexuals in armed services. Defense officials distance themselves from leaked document.

President Clinton on Tuesday reaffirmed his commitment to lift the ban on gays in the military but did not reject a proposal from a leaked Pentagon document calling for a compromise that would discharge gays if they acknowledge their homosexuality.

Asked Tuesday if he had changed his mind on what he would like to see, Clinton said: “No, I haven’t.” With a final decision on the issue expected in three weeks, the President said that he wants to withhold further comment until he receives a final report from Defense Secretary Les Aspin, who is reviewing the ban and consulting with military officials about its effect.

The Pentagon on Tuesday distanced itself from the leaked document. But the memo has nonetheless emerged as a tool in the search for a consensus on the politically explosive issue. It is being used to test opinions in congressional and military circles, one senior defense official said.

Defense officials also said that Sen. Sam Nunn (D-Ga.), a leading supporter of the ban, was briefed last Friday on the contents of the memo. Nunn declared Tuesday that “there has been no official sign-off on it by anyone, including the secretary or the President or anyone else.”

The document, which sources said was drafted by a military working group advising Aspin on the issue, recommended discontinuing the practice of asking incoming service members their sexual orientation. Once in, however, those who openly acknowledged their homosexuality would continue to be discharged as they are now.

The memo recommended discharges for homosexual conduct, which was defined as “engaging in homosexual acts; stating they are homosexual or bisexual; or marrying or attempting to marry persons of the same sex.”

In addition, the June 17 memorandum--parts of which were published in the Washington Times--adopts as a “general principle” that “homosexuality is incompatible with military service.”

The newspaper said that the memo had been drafted by Aspin, a claim Aspin spokesman Vernon Guidry called “flatly wrong.” But Pentagon officials did not dispute that the memorandum exists or that it represents one of the final products of the months-long review.

The thrust of the memo is similar to a compromise proposal championed by Nunn since January, when the Administration first moved to lift the military ban on homosexuals. Nunn’s compromise, widely known as “don’t ask/don’t tell,” has won wide support among fellow lawmakers as well as among senior military officers.

Gay and lesbian activist groups, however, responded angrily to news of the memo and maintained that it does not reflect the thinking of senior decision-makers in the Administration.

“The leaked memo reflects only one of several possible proposals that are currently under consideration,” said Tim McFeeley, executive director of the Human Rights Campaign Fund, a group pressing for a lifting of the military’s ban. “Supporters of discrimination leaked it because they are afraid that they are losing on the arguments.”

Indeed, the recommendation of Aspin’s military advisers stands in marked contrast to an alternative proposal drafted for the Pentagon by the Santa Monica-based RAND think tank. That proposal, citing the successful integration of homosexuals into police and fire departments, recommends that the military allow openly gay men and lesbians to serve with few restrictions, said a knowledgeable source.

Aspin and Clinton are expected to consider both recommendations in drafting a policy that would lift the military’s gay ban.

“I think we’re ready to resolve this and get it behind us,” Clinton said Tuesday. “I hope that it’ll happen soon.”