Gay groups praise Navy's condemnation of videos

The Navy moved quickly on Monday to pledge to investigate videosin which a senior officer uses anti-gay slurs and mimicksmasturbation, while a prominent gay rights group praised themilitary's condemnation of the videos.

Capt. Owen Honors, who commands the USS Enterprise, based inNorfolk, Va., stars in the videos that were aired on the aircraftcarrier's closed-circuit television system in 2006 and 2007 when hewas the ship's second in command. In recent days, the videos havemade Honors an Internet sensation.

"What we see here is, unfortunately, a 49-year-old Navy captainacting like a 19-year-old fraternity boy," said Aubrey Sarvis,executive director of the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network,which has advocated for gay military members. "There is no place forthat type of frat-house behavior."

Honors appeared in the videos while he was the USS Enterprise'sexecutive officer. He took command of the ship, which is expected todeploy soon, in May. The officer who captained the ship in 2006 and2007 has been promoted to rear admiral.

It is not clear why the videos are surfacing now or whether theNavy investigated the videos earlier and decided to promote Honorsto the USS Enterprise's top job despite their content.

But once the videos surfaced on the Internet, the Navy movedquickly to condemn them.

"Production of videos, like the ones produced four to five yearsago on USS Enterprise and now being written about in the Virginian-Pilot, were not acceptable then and are not acceptable in today'sNavy," said Cmdr. Chris Sims, a Navy spokesman. "The Navy does notendorse or condone these kinds of actions. Those in command . . .are charged to lead by example and are held accountable for settingthe proper tone and upholding the standards of honor, courage andcommitment that we expect sailors to exemplify."

It is unlikely that the videos, which include several anti-gayslurs, will have any effect on the Pentagon's efforts to allow gaymen and lesbians to serve openly. "Most of your service members areprofessionals," Sarvis said. "I don't see any implications totransitioning to openly gay service for gays and lesbians."

The Pentagon hasn't said how long it will take to clear the wayfor gays to serve openly in the military after Congress voted lastmonth to repeal the "don't ask, don't tell" law.

The Virginian-Pilot newspaper quoted anonymous crew members whosaid they raised concerns aboard the ship about the videos when theyaired but were brushed off.

In the introduction to the video, posted by the newspaper, Honorssays: "Over the years I've gotten several complaints aboutinappropriate material during these videos, never to me personallybut, gutlessly, through other channels."

In the same segment, he uses a derogatory term for gays.

The Virginian-Pilot reported on the videos in its Saturdayeditions and posted an edited version of one video on its Web site.

jaffeg@washpost.com