| Show A 11 I i f 1 1 IJ J w H Am J Activists ts forGay for forGay J Gay Rights I demonstrate at f Naval Academy 1 x xRay k I Ray Rivera The Washington Post i r strolled the About 50 gay rights activists soggy ground grounds of of the tle US U.S. Naval Academy dont ask the military's Friday to protest dont don't tell policy Academy officials initially threatened to arrest them if they tried to promote their cause on campus But after organizers s agreed no not to talk about gay issues to midshipmen officIals let them roam freely Its so much more than what I 1 thought wed we'd get so Im I'm thrilled rally organizer Jacob Reitan said The protesters wore bri bright t past pastel l T-s T T shirts rt printed with the words Equality Ri Ride e which organizers have dubbed the roving f protest The Naval Academy was as the second second stop in what organizers ers hope will be a nationwide nationwide nationwide nation nation- wide bus tour to visit college campuses where homosexuality is either prohibited or rally began with a few tense moments The protesters mostly students from the Washington area held hands forming a line along the brick wall outside the academy's academy's academy's mys my's main gate After a brief news conference they walked single file through the gate Reitan was first and met by two Marine guards he gave his name and showed his drivers driver's drivers driver's drivers driver's dri dri- vers ver's license One guard asked if he was there with the protest No Im I'm not he said We are not protest protest- ing Were We're here to have a discussion and dialogue dialogue dialogue dia dia- logue and were we're here to be visitors like any other visitors to the academy Earlier this week the academy's deputy superintendent Helen Dunn warned the protesters protesters protesters pro pro- testers to stay off academy grounds Be advised that accessing the Academy grounds for the purpose of protesting or engaging midshipmen faculty and staff fay ray may T l r t paa tM and fitl i subject ct y you to arrest d prosecution 1 ros she sai said jn in fat a J. J n r t Tuesday Tuesday- JI lay q T TJI nu JI J IU j But af after er a few moments of discussion at atthe atthe atthe the gate Friday the guards let Reitan and the rest through A horde of television cameras and reporters followed close behind Academy officials insist they did not back down from the arrest threat but that organizers agreed to their terms They came to the gate they were asked what their intention was and they said they were there as private citizens and that's when the decision was made to the let them aboard said Rod Gibbons an academy a spokesman Introduced as a compromise measure in 1993 by President Bill Clinton dont ask dont don't tell allows gay men and lesbians to f 4 serve in the military only if they keep their sexual orientation private More than service members have been discharged under f the statute according to the Government 1 tI Accountability Office Fridays Friday's protesters included one person drummed out of the Navy for being gay and another who was expelled y from the academy After eating lunch at the academy's Drydock k restaurant which is open to visitors j the activists broke into small and groups scattered scattered scattered scat- scat across the campus visiting the bookstore t i tand and other public buildings while most of the midshipmen were in class At 2 pm p.m. as classes let out the activists lined up in the square outside outside the midshipmen's midshipmen's mens men's dormitory known as Bancroft Hall and shook hands with them as they walked by The protesters left minutes later 9 Everything ended peacefully We shook a lot of hands and introduced ourselves and I think we left an indelible impression on a lot of people at the academy Reitan said |
