Dropping the Gay Bomb

This is no joke.

It's not a piece from The Onion.

WASHINGTON -- The Air Force on Tuesday confirmed a report that in 1994 a military researcher requested $7.5 million to develop a non-lethal "love bomb" that would chemically alter the state of mind of enemy troops and make them want to have sex with each other rather than fight.

Air Force spokeswoman Lt. Col. Cathy Reardon said the idea was proposed by an Air Force researcher at a lab at Brooks Air Force Base in Texas, but it was rejected by the Defense Department. Officials noted that the Air Force is constantly considering funding proposals.

No money was spent, Reardon said, and no such weapons are currently being considered. The goal was to create a non lethal weapon to be used against enemy troops.

First reported by KPIX-TV in San Francisco, the discovery of the "gay bomb" proposal came from a Freedom of Information Act request made by Edward Hammond of Berkeley's Sunshine Project, a watchdog group that tracks military spending.

As part of the military's goal of developing non-lethal weapons, the proposal suggested, "One distasteful but completely non-lethal example would be strong aphrodisiacs, especially if the chemical also caused homosexual behavior."

"Distasteful"?

That's making a value judgment on homosexuality.

Let's see... 1994.

This bizarre proposal was born during the Clinton administration.

Oops. You didn't ask. I'm sorry that I told.