For nearly 50 years, it has been the U.S. military's official policy to exclude homosexuals from service. In November 1992, President - elect Clinton told Americans that he planned to lift the military's long - standing ban on gays and lesbians. Homosexual men and women, he said, should not be prevented from serving their country based on their sexual orientation. Soon after taking office in 1993, Clinton faced powerful military and congressional opposition to lifting the ban. General Colin Powell, then - chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Senator Sam Nunn, who was chairman of the Senate Armed Forces Committee between 1987 an 1994 and left Congress in 1996, announced that they would seek to block his attempts to lift the ban.

For the next six months, debate raged over what to do about the military's ban on gays and lesbians. Clinton's liberal supporters wanted him to follow through on his promise to lift the ban, urging the need to end discrimination against gays and lesbians. Conservatives, military leaders and some lawmakers of both parties argued that the presence of declared homosexuals in the armed forces would be detrimental to military readiness.

Defenders of the "don't ask, don't tell" policy argue that the military must do what it needs to maintain the strongest possible fighting force. In order to carry out that obligation, they say, military leaders must have the authority and discretion to set rules as they see fit to keep up morale and maintain order. On the issue of gay people's service, they say, if military commanders maintain that allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly would be detrimental to morale and discipline, then courts and public should respect that decision.

based on sexual orientation. Moreover, they say, the military serves as a symbol for the rest of society. If the federal government itself discriminates against gay people, they say, that sends a powerful message to other employers and to society at large

In 1950, those regulations officially became part of the Uniform Code of Military Justice. Article 125 of that law, an anti - sodomy statute, prohibits oral or anal sex by any service members. During the 1950s, at the height of concerns over the spread of

Defenders of the ban and of the military's current policy dispute the notion that military personnel should be afforded the same constitutional protections as civilians. Policy supporters maintain that the military is a unique institution with its own set of rules. Opponents of the current policy believe that while the military may have a special status in society, courts still cannot permit it to violate the Constitution.

directive remained in place until 1994, when it was supersede by the "don't ask, don't tell" policy. Between 1980 and 1990, the armed forces discharged an average of 1,500 service members annually because of their homosexuality.

The 1960s and 1970s saw increasingly stringent policies enacted against gays and lesbians, although in rare cases openly gay personnel were allowed to serve. Prior to World War II, commanders had been given wide latitude in deciding whether to discharge gay troops, all

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Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)