Bum's Away!

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 confirmed to the CBS affiliate in San Francisco that military leaders had considered, and then subsquently rejected, building the so-called "Gay Bomb." As part of a military effort to develop non-lethal weapons, the Air Force lab asked for $7.5 million to develop a chemical weapon containing strong aphrodisiacs, especially those that would also cause homosexual behavior.

"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," according to Edward Hammond of Berkley's Sunshine project.
"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 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."

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. "It's just offensive that they think by turning people gay that the other military would be incapable of doing their job," said Geoff Kors of Equality California. "Its absurd because there's so much medical data that shows that sexual orientation is immutable and cannot be changed."