Frontlines: The Latest from OutServe-SLDN

Hecht on Yale

As Congressional debate on the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) heats up, and as support continues to mount for the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” the fight against blatant employment discrimination in the LGBT community took another blow last week. The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against Yale University, rejecting its argument that the Solomon Amendment infringes on its right to academic freedom, because it requires universities to give the military the same access as other job recruiters or forfeit federal money. The ruling by the court in the Yale Law School case follows the US Supreme Court ruling in Fair v. Rumsfeld, effectively requiring academic institutions to compromise their own non-discrimination policies or risk jeopardizing millions of dollars. In Yale’s case, rather than lose $300 million in federal funds each year, the school will now allow military recruiters access to its campus. Harold Koh, Dean of Yale Law School, has, however, pledged to “ameliorate the impact” of this decision and of the discriminatory hiring practices of the US military. SLDN has always been in favor of the US military having access to the best and brightest this country has to offer. And while the Courts have determined that the Solomon Amendment is Constitutional, it is simply bad policy. It forces academic institutions to compromise their own non-discrimination policies, effectively harming the students whom they serve. The bright side to this madness is that this latest decision has again rallied students to advocate on behalf of repealing “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” Like Yale, schools all over the country participate in amelioration by funding student participation in various activities – conferences, guest speakers, advocacy programs and other events – to counter-balance the impact of the military’s direct and unabashed discrimination. Students are one of the most valuable assets in the fight for repeal. Your representatives in Washington WANT to hear from you. And when you speak, they listen. “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” is currently the only federal law requiring someone to be fired simply because of their sexual orientation, and only 20 states and the District of Columbia have employment non-discrimination statutes on their books specifically prohibiting workers from being fired simply for being gay. The fact that we are almost in 2008 and are still trying to convince those in Congress that sexual orientation has nothing to do with how one performs at work, is a sad state of affairs. Hopefully with this recent defeat in the courts and with the debate in Congress over ENDA heating up, we will have the opportunity to educate some of those who still just don’t get it. -Emily Hecht

Labels: don't ask don't tell, in the news, law, Solomon, Yale

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10-03-07