Joint Chiefs Chairman Pace clarifies 'immoral' gay remarks
 The Chairman for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Marine General Peter Pace, has clarified comments made in an newspaper article on Monday which referred to gays as "immoral."
In the statement, Pace said that what he was trying to explain was that he was supportive of the US Military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy, which allows gay troops to serve as long as they keep their sexuality private.
"In expressing my support for the policy, I also offered some personal opinions about moral conduct," Pace's statement said. "I should have focused more on my support of the policy and less on my personal moral views."
Earlier today, the Associated Press reported that no apology would be forthcoming from Pace, even though many gay rights groups have criticized his comments as offensive.
"Pace's senior staff members said today that the general was expressing his personal opinion and had no intention of apologizing," Pauline Jelinek reported for the AP. "They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not allowed to speak on the record."
As RAW STORY reported earlier, one advocacy group seeking the apology, Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN)--which has legally represented servicemembers forced out of the military--released a statement on its website asserting that "General Pace's comments are outrageous, insensitive and disrespectful to the 65,000 lesbian and gay troops now serving in our armed forces."
Pace told The Chicago Tribune yesterday, in discussing his support for the military's Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy, "I believe that homosexual acts between individuals are immoral and that we should not condone immoral acts."
A spokesperson for a gay rights group called Pace's comments "insulting and offensive to the men and women ... who are serving in the military honorably," Jelinek wrote for the AP.
One of Pace's predecessors as Pentagon chief, Gen. John Shalikashvili (Ret.), recently called for the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell, writing, "We must welcome the service of any American who is willing and able to do the job."
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