A high-ranking Spanish army officer admitted Sunday that he was homosexual in a move he told the Spanish daily El Pais aimed at helping gays in the military find their way out of the "catacombs."
Jose Maria Sanchez Silva, a 49-year-old lieutenant colonel in the army's judicial branch, declared: "Rights must be upheld and the law must adapt to social realities," in an interview published by El Pais.
An army code abolished in 1985 considered homosexuality a violation of military honor, but new legislation bans discrimination in the armed forces for sexual reasons.
"The Spanish army has become more democratic," the highly-decorated officer told El Pais.
"Women have been admitted, and Spanish troops participate in peacekeeping missions, but gays are still in the catacombs."
Silva, a former legal advisor at the army's headquarters, said his decision would help advance "the application of homosexuals' rights within the armed forces."
He is to appear on the front page of the Spanish gay magazine Zero under the title "The first gay soldier."
But Silva told El Pais: "There are many homosexuals in the ranks of the army and the Civil Guard, but they are afraid to admit it."
The interview ends with his exclamation: "I can already see my neighbors' faces when they learn that the serious lieutenant colonel is gay!" -- MADRID (AFP)
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