European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - June 6, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse Saturday june 6, 1992 the stars and stripes Page 13 commentary Arthur p. Brill or. Services scarring their progressive image two weeks ago it. . Tracy Thorne was the Pride of the Navy. The 25-year-old navigator Bombar Dier finished first in his highly competitive flight training classes and received top honors. Assigned to a Jet combat Squadron last december he flew often and was soaring to stardom. Today he is an outcast Riding a desk his biggest project planning a Chili cookout at the Oceana naval Ait station in Virginia. Rep. Robert Dornan a Calif called him Nasty names on the today show and the Navy wants Thorne to resign a now. If he does the is threatened with formal proceedings or worse. Forget the $2 million taxpayers spent to train him. Forget his Talent accomplishments and promising career. Quot what happened to the Pride of the Navy in two weeks did Thorne refuse to Cut his hair did he contribute to Saddam or Slobodan Milosevic did he lose his nerve did his flying talents disappear overnight hardly. Life changed for Thorne on night inc two weeks ago when he admitted to the world that he was Gay. In the Navy a eyes his fitness for military service dived from a plus to of minus in one breath. The to appearance made Thorne instant news and soon afterwards his lawyer approached me for Media relations advice and training. As a former Marine a a Grunt myself i found him to be a Sharp polite sensible Young officer who remains popular with his family and fellow fliers. Thorne says he loves the Navy and his career. More important he is still one hell of a flight officer capable of spotting and zapping a target at tree top level in an a-6 attack Jet racing at 500 Mph. Two questions deserve attention. Is the military a automatic discriminatory policy fair also Why did Thorne publicly destroy his career a Thorne says he is not part of some High powered political Gay rights move meant to Embarrass the de forces though his night lir w a a coincide with Bill Clinton a Campaign to change the Pentagon s anti Gay policy and with rep. Armed forces though his nightlife appearance did roughly coincide with Bill Clinton a Campaign Promise to change the Pentagon s anti Gay policy and with rep. Pat Schroeder a a d-colo., introduction of a House Bill to that end. Thorne admits that Public attention to the Issue helps but says he a came out of the closet for his own Good after much soul searching. He talks about being born Gay but not really knowing and accepting it until recently. He is finally at peace with himself Quot he says. The inner Hurt caused by crude locker room anti Gav remarks by fellow fliers who would have refrained had they known Thorness sexual identity Are now a Burden of the past. The military says a persons homosexuality alone is grounds for barring entry and for automatic discharge. Schroeder a Bill would allow Gays to join and remain in the military with sexual misconduct not sexual orientation the dividing line. Thorne agrees with that goal. If military discrimination ends Gays and their uniformed heterosexual counterparts would have to conduct themselves properly. He says most military Gays do that now but they Are restricted a to the the rules regarding sexual misconduct including violent acts pro positioning and harassment apply to All. The answer is self discipline. Thorne thinks it is time for people to Stop thinking that All Gays Lack control of their sexual appetites. Gays have the same temptations and find it no More difficult to conform to behavioural standards than heterosexuals. The rules of society the workplace and the military arc followed by most people. The military services have taken the Lead in fighting drugs promoting equal pay and welcoming minorities. They Are a True melting pot save for this one blemish. Pentagon officials say privately that the barriers against homosexuals will fall and perhaps sooner than the hard liners acknowledge. It was the same for Blacks and women. Eventually performance and conduct will be the Bottom line for everyone in uniform a a not skin color sex or sexual orientation. Will our fighting men be Safe in their Foxholes tanks submarines and Barracks showers then probably just As Safe if not safer than women arc in the military today where they Are often at close quarters with men. Tracy Thome has flown More than 200 hours in the a-6 intruder sitting right next to the Pilot. He Hasni to let his sexual orientation get in the Way of doing his Job locating and destroying targets. As Long As that a the Case he should be Back where he belongs a in a cockpit not planning Chili cookouts. Arthur p. Brill or. A Rotor of in Reno officer was an infantry combat commander in Vietnam c Tho Washington pos Jane Hansen choices change May be Quayle s hang up 6ocibbctf, in Row it re Koto is Cwb in l to it 6tt irks \ got a of is a second Quot a Terr tvs mfg few inn Lifson Etmo in. Of of to two Willu top in it is my Friend is an unwed Mother. I guess her daughter could be called illegitimate even a a a Bastard by some. It is True that when her daughter now 2vi, asks where her father is my Friend replies a you done to have this is not for her the Ideal. But its How she chose it to be. Like most in my generation she dreamed of walking Down the aisle one Day her family silently cheering her on As she took her rightful place at the altar. It was what she always wanted for herself a a husband and children. But it did no to happen that Way. It often does no to. Now less than a year after Anita Hill and Clarence Thomas Willie Smith and Mike Tyson we have Dan Quayle and Murphy Brown and my Friend or. Darsey Butler a Rheum apologist with a Beautiful Home on a Park in Atlanta a Midtown quietly shakes her head. She wonders if the vice president would see her As a sign of moral decay like Murphy Brown the to character who bore a child out of Wedlock and added a new chapter in this quiet revolution in our notion of family this redefinition of the relationship of women and men. Quayle says women like Murphy Brown Are a mocking the importance of fathers by bearing a child Darsey says he missed the Point. She was not mocking fatherhood. She was merely making a Choice that women of previous generations never had. Darsey had been dating a Man she hoped to marry but when the relationship ended she realized at 35 that marriage might not be in her future. A i asked myself if i got to be 60 years old and never got married would that be a blow and i thought no not really. But if i got to be 60 and never had children then i would have Felt id missed out on something that was important to and so she adopted a Beautiful Browneyes baby girl born to an unwed woman in Paraguay. She is not alone in her Choice. The numbers of single women choosing to adopt or get pregnant have grown significantly in recent years. Unlike Many married couples they do not make the decision lightly. A i done to know of a group of people who have thought harder Ana More about the finances the child care whether they have the emotional strength than single women who choose to be come mothers a Darsey said. Another Friend who was artificially inseminated and gave birth to a daughter thought Long and hard before doing so. Like Many raised in a two Parent Home hers had been less than Ideal. A my parents were married the whole time i was growing up and if they a had to get a License to have kids they a have flunked the still she worried about How her col leagues at work would react what her child a teachers would say How her daughter would feel when older. A i bet i put a lot More thought and love into making that decision than 95 percent of the people who have these mothers want their children to be surrounded by Loving adults both men and women. A a it a important for me to provide a male role Model for my daughter a Darsey said. A you done to need to have a father but you need to have a caring male As she spoke those words she wondered if that was the chord that Murphy Brown rattled the idea that men Are being left out of the picture. Perhaps the reason Dan Quayle has created such a juror is not that he a wrong about the Ideal. He a right. Its that for Many the Ideal does no to exist. And where it does no to new options do. We live in a culture that has always assigned primary responsibility for raising children to women. Its just we did no to used to be Able to have them on our own a not biologically not socially not economically. Now we can. No one wants to encourage teen agers or poor women to have babies a a irresponsibly out of Wedlock. Single motherhood or fatherhood for that matter is not easy a not for the most emotionally and financially stable person. It is not the Ideal. But that a not what Murphy Brown is about. Murphy Brown is about choices and change. And maybe that a what Dan Quayle does no to like. Cox nows sur,
