Pentagon Confirms It Sought To Build A 'Gay Bomb'
Hank Plante
Reporting
(CBS 5) BERKELEY A Berkeley watchdog organization that tracks
military spending said it uncovered a strange U.S. military proposal
to create a hormone bomb that could purportedly turn enemy soldiers
into homosexuals and make them more interested in sex than fighting.
Pentagon officials on Friday confirmed to CBS 5 that military leaders
had considered, and then subsquently rejected, building the so-
called Gay Bomb.
Related Content
Gen. Pace Regrets Gay Remark; Doesn't Apologize
Slideshow: Gay Celebrities
Visit The CBS 5 Water Cooler
Edward Hammond, of Berkeley's Sunshine Project, had used the Freedom
of Information Act to obtain a copy of the proposal from the Air
Force's Wright Laboratory in Dayton, Ohio.
As part of a military effort to develop non-lethal weapons, the
proposal suggested, One distasteful but completely non-lethal
example would be strong aphrodisiacs, especially if the chemical also
caused homosexual behavior.
The documents show the Air Force lab asked for $7.5 million to
develop such a chemical weapon.
The Ohio Air Force lab proposed that a bomb be developed that
contained a chemical that would cause enemy soliders to become gay,
and to have their units break down because all their soldiers became
irresistably attractive to one another, Hammond said after reviwing
the documents.
The notion was that a chemical that would probably be pleasant in
the human body in low quantities could be identified, and by virtue
of either breathing or having their skin exposed to this chemical,
the notion was that soliders would become gay, explained Hammond.
The Pentagon told CBS 5 that the proposal was made by the Air Force
in 1994.
The Department of Defense is committed to identifying, researching
and developing non-lethal weapons that will support our men and women
in uniform, said a DOD spokesperson, who indicated that the gay
bomb idea was quickly dismissed.
However, Hammond said the government records he obtained suggest the
military gave the plan much stronger consideration than it has
acknowledged.
The truth of the matter is it would have never come to my attention
if it was dismissed at the time it was proposed, he said. In fact,
the Pentagon has used it repeatedly and subsequently in an effort to
promote non-lethal weapons, and in fact they submitted it to the
highest scientific review body in the country for them to consider.
Military officials insisted Friday to CBS 5 that they are not
currently working on any such idea and that the past plan was
abandoned.
Gay community leaders in California said Friday that they found the
notion of a gay bomb both offensive and almost laughable at the
same time.
Throughout history we have had so many brave men and women who are
gay and lesbian serving the military with distinction, said Geoff
Kors of Equality California. So, it's just offensive that they think
by turning people gay that the other military would be incapable of
doing their job. And its absurd because there's so much medical data
that shows that sexual orientation is immutable and cannot be
changed.
(© MMVII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
