White House Alters Security Rules for Gays

[AGENDA21]

The White House said Wednesday a revised policy on granting security clearances to gays and lesbians does not reflect a change in how the government will treat sexual orientation.

But several Democrats denounced the new rules.

"The Bush administration is waging a covert war on loyal federal employees who happen to be gay," said California Rep. Henry Waxman, the top Democrat on the House Government Reform Committee.

The administration rewrote a 1997 regulation that had said sexual orientation "may not be used as a basis" for denying clearances or determining whether individuals should be eligible to access classified information unless it could make them vulnerable to coercion or exploitation.

http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2006/3/16/154801.shtml?s=ic

[EC]

1. So what they are saying here

White House spokesman Scott McClellan said the new language stems from a 1995 executive order aimed at preventing discrimination based on sexual orientation. He insisted no language has been removed and that the new rules are similar to the old ones.

"There's no change in our policy," McClellan said. "I think that they updated the language to reflect exactly what was spelled out in the executive order."

is that as long as one stays in the closet all is fine? Just like their "we have nothing against gays, just what they do" line...