An article from last week's (San Francisco) Bay Area Reporter
(12/23/92), a G/L weekly newspaper, reprinted without
permission...

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SF Top Cops Lobby To Overturn Military Ban
by David O'Connor

San Francisco Police Chief Tony Ribera has written a letter
to General Colin Powell advising him to go along with
President-elect Bill Clinton's plan to lift the military ban
on lesbians and gays.

"I felt that I had unique expertise in that I had probably
directly managed more openly gay officers than anybody in
law enforcement," Ribera told the Bay Area Reporter.  "I
thought it would have really been cowardly of me not to take
a stand for these officers who have performed so well for me
over the years."

Ribera said he did not intend for his letter to be made public
but he hopes it will help to get the ban lifted.

In his letter to Powell, Ribera wrote, "In 1979, before the
first openly gay officer entered our department, I had doubts
about the propriety of hiring gays as police officers.
However the events of the past 14 years have changed my
thinking on the issue."

Ribera went on to say that while he was platoon commander in
the Mission District, 20 of the 65 officers in his platoon
were lesbian or gay.

"Our platoon was far and above the most productive in all
measurable categories of performance among the city's 27
platoons," he wrote.  "I would also note that during that five
year period there was not a single incident of unprofessional
conduct by the gay and lesbian officers working for me.

"General Powell, I am not a flaming liberal advocating a
cause," Ribera wrote.  "I am in fact relatively conservative
and a practicing Roman Catholic.  However, I feel morally
compelled to acknowledge police officers who have given me and
our department quality performance and loyalty."

Ribera told the B.A.R. he wanted lesbian and gay officers to
know how much he has appreciated their work over the years.

San Francisco Police Lieutenant Alan Benner also has written
about the impact of open gays and lesbians in the police force.

Benner's report, "The Process of Inclusion," concluded that
"issues surrounding inclusion of homosexuals is more hype than
substance."

In discussing the effect of officers who have died of AIDS,
Benner wrote, "the magnitude of our loss and the magnitude of
our shared humanity made sexual orientation a minuscule,
irrelevant and petty factor."

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rod williams -=- pacific bell -=- san ramon, ca -=- rjwill6@pacbell.com
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