ANNAPOLIS, Maryland (AP) – The governing board of the Naval Academy Alumni Association has rejected a bid from graduates who sought to establish a predominantly gay and lesbian alumni chapter.

The decision marked the second time in two years the Naval Academy’s alumni association rejected the gay group, whose members believe it is the first such chapter to seek recognition from a U.S. service academy.

“I think when they reject us today, they are making their discrimination clear,” said Jeff Petrie, who founded the group.

The group has been operating and inducting members for more than a year, even though it does not have the official sanction of the alumni association. Now 68 members strong, it is the only group the association has ever denied affiliation.

All 27 trustees who attended the meeting voted to dismiss Petrie’s request because his group is narrowly tailored to serve a special interest. Other reasons the association gave for rejecting the group include its scattered membership and the location of its headquarters in San Francisco – a region already served by an alumni chapter.

The board opposes special-interest chapters because their membership would be exclusive, the association wrote in a news release entitled “Naval Academy Alumni Association reaffirms commitment to diversity and inclusiveness.”

“Today we received a mixed message, and ironically were rejected on the premise of diversity,” Petrie said.

The chapter revamped itself this year in an effort to win recognition. It established its base as the Castro district, a predominantly gay neighborhood of San Francisco, after trustees said last year that new chapters have to be “geographic in nature.”

The group also rewrote its bylaws to clarify that it doesn’t exclude heterosexual graduates, and it inducted its first straight member.

Leaders of the association said after the meeting that existing chapters should not and do not discriminate against gay and lesbian alumni, and they urged Castro members to join other alumni chapters.

The association cited the larger San Francisco chapter, which is run by a board of directors that includes two openly gay members.

Petrie, who also serves as secretary of the larger chapter, says Castro members feel more at home in a group run by gay and lesbian alumni. Castro alumni, who live all over the country, say running their own chapter is crucial, he said.

“There is discrimination throughout the alumni chapters, and this is our attempt to escape that,” he said.