European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - October 14, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Friday october 14,1988 the stars and stripes Page 3 army defends ban on homosexuals lawyers claim Gays create tension by Kim Murphy us Angeles times san Francisco army lawyer wednesday defended regulations barring homosexuals from military service arguing soldiers confined together in close quarters Don t like to be viewed. As objects of sexual  military lawyers Are seeking reconsideration of a landmark appellate court ruling that struck Down the army s ban on Gay soldiers. The military lawyers said homosexual Ity creates tension1 among heterosexual enlistees and can be prohibited under a Long tradition of Laws and court Deci Sions which regulate homosexual con duct. But lawyers for a 40-year-old former army sergeant who is challenging his forced discharge after 14 years of exem Plary service said the real goal of the military regulations is to Cater to Pri vate bigotry and  in this Case we have a policy Hal says to All homosexuals we re just not going to consider them Good patriots Good fighters,1" said James Lobsenz who is representing Perry Watkins for the american civil liberties Union. There is no evidence whatsoever to support the military s Bald assertion that homosexuality affects the Caliper of Mili tary performance Watkins added. Arguments in the Case were heard in an unusual in Bane session of the . 9th circuit court of appeals convened to reconsider a ruling earlier this year that struck Down the army s historic ban on homosexual soldiers. The opinion handed Down in the Case in february could provide Broad Guaran tees for homosexuals against government discrimination in employment housing and custody disputes. The three member panel of the appeals court held that regu lations requiring discharge of homosexual soldiers violate the Constitution s equal Protection guarantees. The decision was the first of its kind by any Federal appeals court. It prompted a majority of tire circuit judge sin june to refer the Case to an 11-Mem Ber panel for another hearing to deter mine whether it will become the Law of the largest Federal appeals court in the nation. The 9th circuit s findings Are important because they represent the first appellate court analysis of whether homosexuals As a class Are protected under the Constitution apart from questions of whether they have engaged in illegal sex Ual conduct. However any decision is Likely to be appealed to the . Supreme court. The original panel in an opinion writ ten by judge William a. Norris held that the 1981 regulations requiring Auto Matic discharge of homosexuals regard less of the Quality of their performance. In permissibly distinguish homosexual by their orientation rather than conduct. For instance soldiers can be subject to discharge simply by expressing a Homo sexual orientation yet heterosexual sol Diers who have actually engaged in homosexual acts Are not subject to automatic discharge the majority said. In its opinion the court majority said it was not obligated to follow a 1986 supreme court opinion thai upheld enforcement of Georgia s sodomy Laws against homosexuals. The supreme court in that Case the majority said was ruling on regulation of homosexual con duct not orientation. The appeals court also distinguished its equal pre Lection analysis in the wat Kins Case from the Georgia Case. Bowers. Hardwick. It said the Georgia decision was largely based on a finding that Sodo my Laws do not violate homosexuals right to privacy. But one of the court s most Liberal judges Stephen Reinhardt dissented. Reinhardt said that while he believed the supreme court in the Georgia decision improperly condones official Bias and prejudice against homosexuals the nation s lower courts Are Mill bound by it in deciding the Case the 11-member in Bane panel about evenly Divide among the court s Liberal and conserva Tive members could Side with Walkins without reaching the sweeping conclusion that homosexuals constitute a protected class. For instance they could uphold the army regulations in substance but de cide they were unfairly applied in wat Kins or that they should at least include provisions for individual hearings. Watkins a Tacoma wash., resident has been for the most part unemployed since his preliminary discharge in 1982. He told army officials he was a Homo sexual when he was drafted in 1968, and the admission remained part of his personnel file until his discharge became final in 1984. He was granted several re enlistment contracts after a service record that included a number of commendations. Although administrative hearings failed to produce sufficient evidence Dur ing Watkins service army lawyers in recent months submitted evidence that Watkins had engaged in homosexual re lations with other servicemen in one Case inside military Barracks. Lobsenz Friday again emphasized that the regulations Are targeted not Al con duct but at orientation. There is More to being a homosexual than one act of homosexual sodomy he said. Being a homosexual is an aspect Ofa person s personality it is a key aspect. They Are homosexual whether they arc typing a letter or baking a  but e. Roy Hawkens representing the department of the army said person with homosexual orientation can be expected to engage in homosexual acts disruptive to the military. Safer helmet a Model in Dis Shorf West Germany shows a motorcycle helmet thai meets1 the new gaiety Stan Dards Germany will require of manufacturers after this month. Helmets Wilh built in safety features will be compulsory for motorcycle riders after Jan. 1, 1990.ferscns tiling to comply will be fined. Sex firefighter teen Ager charged in blazes plaguing . Towns Jefferson . A a teen Ager was arrested thursday been charged with setting one of a series of suspicious fires that have had some residents of new Hampshire s White Mountain area steeping in shifts and Manning night patrols since May. The arrest came a Day after a former firefighter was accused in several blazes. Lawrence Coulter jr., 19, of Jefferson was charged with setting a fire earlier this month at a vacation Home in Dallon two towns away from Jefferson the scene of most of the fires police said. On wednesday police charged Lance Lalu Micro 23, of Jefferson win setting fire to his brother s Home in Jefferson. They said they will seek indictments charging him with 15 other blazes. Jefferson has been plagued by 21 arson fires since May. During the period there have been at least three suspicious fires in nearby towns. Plainclothes police officers hustled ulu Micro into the police station in neighbouring Lancaster wednes Day where he was later arraigned in District court on a single felony arson charge. Bail was set at $50,000. The weekly Coos county Democrat reported wednesday that Lalumiere s brother Michael said Lance Lalumiere had been taken tuesday to the twin Mountain police Barracks in neighbouring Carroll. He is upset the brother told the paper there s a definite mental Strain there s no doubt about  Jefferson a quiet Hamlet of 850 people has been plagued by suspicious by arcs since a May 5 grass fire. A barn was the second target then empty Homes and later occupied ones. Most of the fires were set late at night Many at the Back of buildings. No one has been killed or seriously Hurt although some people barely escaped and lost their Homes. As the toll of scorched structures mounted Many families began sleeping in shifts. I have a feeling we re developing the same callus you develop in Belfast or Beirut Charles Bond a slate sen Ator and Jefferson resident said last week. If a car bomb is going to blow up in front of your House it s going to happen. You re scared but you have to live with it.7 Lalumiere once worked for the town s Volunteer fire department but was asked to quit when he moved to nearby Groveton. He has since moved Back to Jefferson where he works night As a dishwasher at a restaurant. A co worker defended Lalumiere on wednesday. A couple of limes there s been fires and he s been right Here in the room across from me said the Man who did not want his name used. The fire for which Lalumiere was charged occurred aug. 23 at his brother Michael s Cabin. It was the 19ln suspicious Blaze to break out. Lance Lalumiere reported the fire and was trying to extinguish it when firefighters arrived. He was questioned for eight hours afterwards and police searched his Home and car. In an interview two Days later Lalumiere told the Democrat All i tried to do was save my brother s House and this is the thanks i  Trident missile mistakenly destroyed Aspin says Washington of a Range safety officer destroyed a properly functioning Navy Trident test missile last month in the mistaken belief that it was veering out of control rep. Los Aspin d-wis., said wednesday. There s always someone who does t get the word and in this instance it was the Man with his Finger on the destruct Button said Aspin who is chairman of the House armed services committee. Aspin said that while the missile was following the intended flight plan after its sept. 19 launch from the air Force s Eastern space and missile Center at Cape canaveral fla., it appeared to the safety officer that it was about to leave the Range safety corridor. Aspin said the missile was properly functioning and the safety officer destroyed it through what amounted to  the incident occurred during the i5lhin a series of 19 land based tests of the missile which is designed to be fired by the Trident submarine Fleet. Aspin said the air Force is working to prevent a recurrence. In the testing thus far the series shows two outright failures and one partial Suc Cess Aspin said. All other flights went As planned. The destruction of the i5lh missile by mistake was counted As a no lest be cause the missile itself did not malfunction Aspin said. Aspin said a review of the Trident lest program showed that the i3lh flight on july 7 was a failure and the missile was destroyed in flight the cause of thai failure is under re View Aspin  next test on aug. 20, was a Suc  said that the july 7 launching and other earlier malfunctions had Dif Ferent causes now believed 10 be Cor , test results indicate the mis Sile is still meeting its objectives Aspin said