The Pentagon apparently classifes homosexuality as a “disorder’ even though the mental health profession abandoned that practice three decades ago.
It is well known that Don Rumsfeld has had numerous gay advisors — particularly Stephen Herbits whom Rumsfeld has known since 1967 — and today has a coterie of young men on his staff, running errands, carrying his attache case, doing advance work — and at minimum, several of these people are gay.
I have spoken to two of them and none report that Rumsfeld is gay — but they all say that he gives indications of being accepting and gay-friendly. One said that he gives most of the members of his team “big hugs” at his annual Christmas party at his Kalorama street home. The gay guys on his team think beneath that know-it-all, imperious demeanor is an affectionate teddy bear of a guy.
Rumsfeld has a lot on his plate. He seems to have a building number of cases of his soldiers involved in prisoner abuse, torture, and murder.
So, rectifying the “homosexuality is a disorder” problem may be low on his list — but perhaps it’s one of the easiest problems for him to fix, if he has the moral fiber to do so.
— Steve Clemons
