President, Factions, and 'The Invitation to Struggle': Lifting the Gay Ban in the United States Military.

摘要

Candidate Bill Clinton promised that, as President, he would promulgate an Executive order to remove the prohibition on homosexuals serving in the United States military. A year after President Clinton's inauguration, the Department of Defense (DOD) issued its new guidance on homosexuals serving in the military, which, in essence, simply substituted the words 'homosexual conduct' for 'homosexual'. The guidance fell far short of candidate Clinton's campaign promise. This paper will analyze how a supposedly firm campaign promise failed to materialize and why Commander-in-Chief Clinton did not issue an Executive order 'forcing' the military to accept gays openly. To do this, it will follow the issue from the 1992 campaign to the December 1993 issuance of DOD directives implementing the new policy on homosexuals.