Raising Awareness, One Campus at a Time
This past Friday I traveled to the Roger Williams Law School in Bristol, Rhode Island at the invitation of The Alliance, the law school’s LGBT student group. The law school is appropriately enough named after one of the people who founded Rhode Island in the 1600s in the course of seeking liberty for persecuted religious minorities. We draw on that same spirit in our continued struggle to seek liberty and end discrimination for the 65,000 LGBT service members currently serving under “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”
SLDN’s Legal Department frequently hits the road to educate law students about “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” to make sure they’re aware of our legal services, and to continue building momentum for repeal of this law.
While many students have the gut reaction that discrimination is wrong, and that “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” is wrong, every time I travel and speak about “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” I’m surprised that so few people realize how inhumane and draconian the law really is. That’s why public education about how this law works is critical to our mission. After these talks, students come away even more energized and passionate about repeal because they see how the law not only harms our LGBT service members, but how it also undermines unit cohesion and the readiness of our military.
03-29-10 By Aaron Tax, SLDN Legal Director |
3 Comments
Comments for this entry are closed.Christopher Howard in California on March 31, 2010 at 02.02 am
What is considered “mission critical”? I was a Combat Medic in the Army, and told by my Command that I was being discharged for being gay one and a half weeks before I was to deploy to Iraq.
Dino in Washington, D.C. on March 29, 2010 at 10.31 pm
Thank you Aaron. Today a group from Servicemembers United spoke at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln about don’t ask don’t tell and the need for it to be repealed. They also had 800 flags on campus to symbolise the 800 US Servicemembers who have been kicked out under don’t ask don’t tell who’s positions were “mission critical”. Nebraska is the home state of US Senator Ben Nelson who is a key vote on the Armed Services Committee for the repeal of DADT in May by adding it to the FY 2011 DOD Budget. Lets hope the presentation not only moves the students to realise that don’t ask don’t tell is wrong, but that action is needed for it to be repealed once and for all.
Bill on March 29, 2010 at 05.01 pm
Thanks Aaron for your continuing dedication and work. Grass roots public education remains critical to an end of DADT in this session of Congress.
I’m trying to remember where in the last couple of weeks somebody said too many Americans think DADT has already ended after hearing the President talk against it so many times. I suspect some of the (friendly) ignorance of the law students also comes from the fact that very few college students of any type give a hoot about the military. The All Volunteer Army has led to a superb fighting force, but put the average young American too remote from identification with military service or servicepersons.