San Francisco
group wants to convert battleship into museum honoring gays

After San Francisco city officials rejected a plan to bring the USS Iowa to the city earlier this year, supporters of the idea have come up with a new plan that they hope will convince local leaders to welcome the historic battleship. Supporters say a proposal to turn part of the vessel into a museum honoring the contributions of gays, lesbians, ethnic minorities, and women to the military should help sway the board of supervisors' decision. In July the board voted 8-3 to oppose taking in the ship, citing local opposition to the Iraq war and the military's stance on gays, among other things. But local veterans groups and history buffs have rallied hard for the Iowa, which served in battles since World War II, carried President Franklin Roosevelt home from the Tehran conference of allied leaders, and suffered one of the nation's most deadly military accidents in 1989 when 47 sailors were killed in an explosion during a training exercise. "I think the Iowa could be a very powerful teaching tool regarding recruitment and U.S. defense policy," said Merylin Wong, president of the Historic Ship Memorial at Pacific Square, the San Francisco organization lobbying for the ship. Even if the board approves the proposal, San Francisco still must bid against the city of Stockton, where city officials have already expressed a desire to host the ship. The idea of a museum about the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy regarding gays also may not sit well with Navy officials. Jack Green, a spokesman for the Navy Historical Society, which evaluates exhibits that appear on board donated ships, said an exhibit about a controversial defense policy would need approval from the secretary of the Navy. "That sort of thing would be judged on a case-by-case basis," Green said. "None of the [exhibits] I know of deal with social issues." Steve Boeckels, a local gay activist who helped come up with the idea for the museum, said he's seeking support from civil rights organizations. "This is an opportunity for San Francisco to be first in displaying the value of acceptance for minorities and others who have sacrificed their lives for this country," said the 31-year-old Boeckels, who was discharged from the Army under "don't ask, don't tell" in 2000. (AP)