The Bush administration last year quietly rewrote the rules for allowing gays and lesbians to receive national-security clearances, drawing complaints from some civil-rights activists.

The Bush administration said security clearances cannot be denied \"solely on the basis of the sexual orientation of the individual.\" But it removed language saying that sexual orientation \"may not be used as a basis for or a disqualifying factor in determining a person's eligibility for a security clearance.\"

The White House sought to play down the changes, approved by President Bush in December, as an effort to ensure the security-clearance rules are consistent with a 1995 executive order about access to classified information.

\"The minor language change did not and was not intended to alter the way sexual orientation is treated,\" National Security Council spokesman Frederick Jones said Tuesday. \"The U.S. government policy has not changed in any way.\"

Jones said government lawyers made the changes for clarity.

Some gay-rights activists expressed concern that the new guidelines could lead to a chipping away of safeguards obtained in the 1990s for gays and lesbians seeking security-related government jobs.

RazorbackTX:
gmg/MIMatt ?????
Care to respond?

Jones said government lawyers made the changes for clarity.

fantomas:
How much more will Bush and his corrupt and incompetent cronies need to kick gay people in the ass before the gay people who love and support them finally say enough is enough?  This is BS straight out of the Cold War era!  It's 2006, lesbians, gays and bis are not a security threat!