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Gays and the Military: Joseph Steffen Versus the United States. Edited by Marc Wolinsky and Kenneth Sherrill. Princetin, N.J.: Princeton Universtiy Press, 1993. Motes Index. Pp. xxii, 222. Paper. $10.95.
In April 1987, six weeks before graduation, Midshipman Regimental Commander Joseph C. Steffan was dismissed from the U.S. Naval Academy, having admitted to being a homosexual. He had not been charged with engaging in any homosexual conduct, nor was he given an opportunity to defend himself. He was given neither the customary three months for outprocessing nor the possibility of graduating and resigning before being commissioned. Mr. Steffan sued.
The major gay rights activist group and a powerful law firm combined for Stefan v. Cheney. Wolinsky, co-counsel to Steffan in his suit, and Sherrill, a professor of political science at Hunter College, teamed up to produce a volume that documents the powerful case against the long-standing Department of Defense policy banning homosexuals from service.
Noting that...