Fridae

Following outcry by gay advocacy groups throughout the US, the US Navy yesterday called an anti-gay epithet written on a Navy bomb "inappropriate" and assured "steps were taken to prevent a recurrence of this unfortunate incident," in a letter sent to The Human Rights Campaign (HRC), Amercia?s largest gay political group.

Last week, the Associated Press ran a photo which showed a bomb being "personalized" with the phrase, "HIGH JACK [sic] THIS FAGS."

Rear Admiral S.R. Pietropaoli?s letter to HRC Executive Director Elizabeth Birch reads in part, ?Your concern about the photograph of an inappropriate comment scrawled on a piece of ordnance aboard the USS Enterprise is both understood and shared by Navy leadership.?

He also added that there is no written Defence Department guidance governing spontaneous acts of penmanship by the military. Writing on bombs before they are used has been the norm. The letter also mentioned that some of the first bombs dropped in Afghanistan were scrawled with messages such as "FDNY," "NYPD," "Pentagon," "WTC" and "I (heart) NY were of support for victims of the terrorist attacks as well as the fire and police departments.

The HRC and the Servicemembers Legal Defence Network (SLDN), which represents gay members of the military have welcomed the Navy?s statement.

"The letter was a welcome clarification and we are pleased the Navy has stated that this type of anti-gay behaviour has no place in our armed forces," said Birch. "We are appreciative they have actively taken steps to end anti-gay episodes such as this at a time when our nation needs to be united against the new and dangerous threats we face."

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"We appreciate the Navy's pledge to curb harassment, especially at a time when it needs all service members to focus on our fight against terrorism," said C. Dixon Osburn, SLDN's executive director.

Although the news agency removed the photograph hours after it was first circulated, a GLAAD spokesperson said that?s not what the gay media watchdog organisation wanted, according to the gay Southern Voice newspaper.

"What?s frustrating is we didn?t want the photo pulled? We want AP to step up and address not only the obvious anti-gay sentiment the message conveys, but also re-evaluate how their own photo desk could be oblivious to such an inappropriate phrase," said Cathy Renna, news media director of GLAAD.

AP spokesperson Jack Stokes said that the agency will not make a comment other than to dismiss the incident as a "journalistic error."

In the letter, Pietropaoli reiterated that the US Navy does not tolerate discrimination of any kind and said, ?I sincerely hope this isolated incident will not detract from the hard work and dedication of thousands of sailors and Marines serving our nation in this war on terrorism."