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Gay groups praise Navy's condemnation of videos
By Greg Jaffe
The Navy moved quickly on Monday to pledge to investigate videos in which a senior officer uses anti-gay slurs and mimicks masturbation, while a prominent gay rights group praised the military's condemnation of the videos.
Capt. Owen Honors, who commands the USS Enterprise, based in Norfolk, Va., stars in the videos that were aired on the aircraft carrier's closed-circuit television system in 2006 and 2007 when he was the ship's second in command. In recent days, the videos have made Honors an Internet sensation.
"What we see here is, unfortunately, a 49-year-old Navy captain acting 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 for that type of frat-house behavior."
Honors appeared in the videos while he was the USS Enterprise's executive officer. He took command of the ship, which is expected to deploy soon, in May. The officer who captained the ship in 2006 and 2007 has been promoted to rear admiral.
It is not clear why the videos are surfacing now or whether the Navy investigated the videos earlier and decided to promote Honors to the USS Enterprise's top job despite their content.
MEDIA
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