For immediate release: July 16, 1993

 For additional information:
 Bill Winter, Director of Communications
 (202) 543-1988


             LIBERTARIANS: "DON'T ASK, DON'T TELL"
                POLICY IS UNWORKABLE AND UNFAIR


   WASHINGTON DC -- The "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy
 compromise for gays in the military is unworkable and
 unfair, said Mary Gingell, National Chair of the Libertarian
 Party, and she urged President Bill Clinton to "have the
 moral courage to stand up for his alleged principles."

   "Don't ask, don't tell? Don't believe it," said Gingell.
 "This so-called compromise is a denial of the concept of
 equal rights, a shameless reversal of Clinton's campaign
 promises, and a sell-out to the blind ignorance and fear of
 the military establishment.

   "Let's get government out of the discrimination
 business," urged Gingell. "America should be a land where
 sexual orientation isn't the government's business, and
 where the men and women in our armed forces don't have to
 fear the military 'Sex Police.' The 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell'
 policy will create a climate of doubt, suspicion, and
 mistrust in the military, and decrease the effectiveness of
 our troops."

   The "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy was recommended
 yesterday by Defense Secretary Les Aspin, and President
 Clinton has made it clear he will accept some version of it.

   Stuart Reges, Libertarian Party National Director,
 labeled Clinton "just another politician who promises
 anything to get elected," but "caved in to pressure from the
 bigots. Democrats are long on promises, and short on
 principles when it comes to defending civil liberties. The
 Libertarian Party is the only party that calls for an end to
 governmental discrimination -- in or out of the military."

   Reges, an openly gay man, noted that since 1975 the
 Libertarian Party's platform has demanded "an end to the
 Defense Department practice of discharging armed forces
 personnel for homosexual conduct."

   The Libertarian Party is the third largest political
 party in America. Its platform calls for free enterprise,
 free trade, individual liberty, respect for the Bill of
 Rights, and no meddling overseas.

                           -- END--

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