199013
Homosexuality and the Armed Services
POSITION STATEMENT
Approved by the Board of Trustees, December 1990
Approved by the Assembly, November 1990
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"Policy documents are approved by the APA Assembly and Board of Trustees… These are …position statements that define APA official policy on specific subjects…" -- APA Operations Manual. |
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This position statement was proposed by the Committee on Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Issues* of the Council on National Affairs. APA, since 1973, has formally opposed all public and private discrimination against homosexuals in such areas as employment, housing, public accommodations, and licensing. It follows that APA opposes exclusion and dismissal from the armed services on the basis of sexual orientation. Furthermore, APA asserts that no burden of proof of judgment, capacity, or reliability should be placed on homosexuals which is greater than that imposed on any other persons within the armed services.
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*The committee members are Robert Paul Cabaj, M.D. (chairperson and Assembly liaison), Richard A. Isay, M.D., Margery Sved, M.D., Rochelle Lynn Klinger, M.D., Marshall Forstein, M.D., and Peggy Hanley-Hackenbruck, M.D. (corresponding member).