ROTC program discriminates against gay community

By: John Welch

Posted: 5/7/09

A Spectator guest columnist expressed concern that members of the campus group Staff and Faculty for Peace and Justice appear opposed to an Army ROTC program on the UW-Eau Claire campus.

The writer acknowledges that one of the concerns among this group is that the military discriminates against gays and lesbians. The writer then asks whether it's really true that the military discriminates on the basis of sexual orientation.

"Don't Ask, Don't Tell" is a law that bans openly gay, lesbian and bisexual people from serving in the military. According to the Service Member's Legal Defense Network, since the law's

implementation in 1994, more than 12,000 service members have been discharged on the basis of sexual orientation. How is this not discrimination?

The writer also acknowledges being gay or lesbian is not a bar to enlistment and only homosexual conduct is incompatible with military service.

The writer is correct, but is not acknowledging that the military defines "homosexual conduct" broadly, and homosexual statements can include a statement that one is gay. "Homosexual conduct" means much more than having sex with someone of the same gender.

According to the law, a "homosexual act" means any bodily contact, "actively undertaken or passively permitted, between members of the same gender." Kissing, hugging and handholding have all been viewed as homosexual acts under this law.

The policy still discriminates against gay, lesbian and bisexual service members.

The objection, it seems, is that because the military still openly discriminates against lesbian, gay, and bisexual people, some students would be excluded from the Army ROTC program.

How would this be different than the School of Education saying, "homosexuality, in and of itself, is not a bar to admission; homosexual conduct is incompatible with the teaching profession?"

I agree with the writer that "diversity does not mean that only people that you agree with get to have their say," but embracing diversity also means that we don't sponsor programs that openly discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation.

John Welch
Junior
Social work