Honor Bound: A Gay American Fights for the Right to Serve His Country

Discharged from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1987 for being a homosexual, Steffan filed suit a year later challenging the regulations that ban gays and lesbians from the armed services. In this memoir he narrates his discovery and affirmation of his sexual identity, then criticizes Annapolis for intolerance and inflexibility. The midshipman turned law student challenges the validity of often-cited general objections to gays in the military, such as those that cast gays as possible security risks who might abuse command authority and threaten unit cohesion. Problems involving specific activities can be dealt with as they arise, he argues, within the guidelines of appropriately revised regulations. Although unlikely to change the minds of those who would uphold the ban, the book makes a strong defense of individual rights as opposed to the demands and restrictions of collective institutions. Photos not seen by PW. Author tour. (Sept.)