KEY POINTS:
WASHINGTON - The top US military officer, Marine General Peter Pace, tried today to calm anger that erupted after he described homosexual acts as immoral, saying he was expressing only his personal views.
Gay rights activists and Democrats criticised the chairman of the US military's Joint Chiefs of Staff for his comments and a veteran Republican senator voiced his disagreement.
"I believe homosexual acts between two individuals are immoral and that we should not condone immoral acts," Pace said in an interview with the Chicago Tribune published on Tuesday.
"I do not believe the United States is well served by a policy that says it is okay to be immoral in any way."
Pace was explaining why he supported the Pentagon's "don't ask, don't tell" policy on gays serving in the military, signed into law in 1993 by then-President Bill Clinton.
Under the policy, commanders may not ask the sexual orientation of service members, but gays and lesbians can serve only if they keep their sexual orientation private and do not engage in homosexual acts.
Later, Pace issued a statement saying he had made a mistake in devoting so much time to his personal views.
"In expressing my support for the current policy, I also offered some personal opinions about moral conduct," he said. "I should have focused more on my support of the policy and less on my personal moral views."
The Human Rights Campaign, a leading US gay rights organisation, had condemned Pace's earlier remarks as bigoted.
"General Pace's comments were irresponsible, offensive and a slap in the face to the gay men and women who are currently serving their country with honour and bravery," said Joe Solmonese, the group's president.
The US Government Accountability Office reported in 2005 that 9488 service members had been discharged under the 'don't ask, don't tell" policy.
House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she was "disappointed in the moral judgment" voiced by Pace and the military should consider changing policy on allowing gays to serve in its ranks.
"We need patriotic Americans who exist across the board in our population," the California Democrat said. "We don't need a moral judgment from the Chairman of Joint Chiefs."
Republican Senator John Warner, a veteran member of the Senate's Armed Services Committee, said through a spokesman:
"I respectfully but strongly disagree with the chairman's view that homosexuality is immoral."
Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said Pace's comments reflected a personal opinion.
"The personal opinion is not what's at issue here, it's not what's important," he said. "What's important is that we have a policy that we will continue to implement that says that we will discharge people based on conduct and not orientation."
In the interview, Pace compared gay sex with adultery and said the military should not tolerate either activity in its ranks. The military prosecutes service members who sleep with the spouse of another member of the armed forces.
"As an individual, I would not want (acceptance of gay behaviour) to be our policy, just like I would not want it to be our policy that if we were to find out that so-and-so was sleeping with somebody else's wife, that we would just look the other way, which we do not," he said.
- REUTERS
