10/3: Military Recruiters At Stanford Met With Protests Over Anti-Gay Policy

At Stanford in Stanford, California, and the University of Iowa in Iowa City, students decried the Solomon Amendment, a law which allows the federal government to withhold funding to universities which deny the military access to students.

Twenty-four law schools went to court last year to fight the law, arguing that the military ban on gays serving openly violated the schools' policies on equal rights.
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At Stanford, students staged a noisy protest as Navy recruiters entered the campus. The recruiters left a short while later when no prospective job candidates showed up for interviews.

"It was Mission Nothing Accomplished,'' John Polito, 30, a gay law student who helped organize the protest rally told the San Jose Mercury News.

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Military recruiters cut short their visit to Stanford Law School on Monday after no prospective job candidates showed up for interviews -- only noisy protesters of the military's ``don't ask, don't tell'' policy for gays and lesbians.
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``We talked for 40 minutes,'' said Polito, a Cleveland native who dressed for his interview in a conservative shirt and tie. ``I told them they'd do better by interviewing off-campus, at a hotel. They seemed fairly understanding.

``I told them I didn't want to go back into the closet to get a job. Because I'm gay, that avenue of work is closed to me.''

Recruiter Raymond Blount and the public affairs spokesman with the Navy Recruiting District in Mountain View did not return calls from the Mercury News.
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Yesterday at 11:20 a.m., two baffled looking Army recruiters from the Judge Advocate General’s Office of the United States Navy (JAG) stood in the courtyard of the Stanford Law School. By 11:45 a.m., the courtyard was filled with 60 protesters, some in camouflage, others in collared shirts, their mouths shut with duct tape saying “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” The protesters marched in a wide circle and shouted slogans.

“What do we want?” yelled one protester.

“Equality,” responded the rest.

“When do we want it?”

“Now.”

The demonstration, which was organized by OUTLAW, a group of law students headed by two second year students, Spencer Jones and Michael Angelo, was aimed at protesting the Army’s LGBT policy, the Solomon Amendment and what they perceive as the University’s failure to take a stand against the amendment.

The Solomon Amendment, which originally passed in Congress in 1997, allows the federal government to withhold funding from universities that do not allow the army to recruit. The situation is complicated by the army’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy, which dictates that open homosexuality can be grounds for discharge from the service. At many institutions of higher learning, including Stanford Law School, a non-discriminatory recruitment policy is in place which dictates that no employer can recruit on campus if that employer discriminates based on “age, religion, disability, ethnic background, national origin, gender, race, sexual orientation or veteran status.”

The issue of JAG recruitment did not come to a head before this year because of the Law School’s policy that at least five students must show an interest in a recruiter in order for that recruiter to interview on campus. Even after obtaining interest from five students, the recruiters’ presence was only tolerated because of the Solomon Amendment.

University policy also protested states that no employer can be “illegally” discriminatory. The military’s policy to “discharge members who engage in homosexual conduct,” constitutes legal discrimination.

Jones, however, was not interested in issues of legality.

“As we see it,” he said, “Discrimination is discrimination.”

Junior Bharat Venkat agreed.

“I wish Stanford would take more of a stand,” he said.

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http://daily.stanford.edu/tempo?page=content&id=17949&repository=0001_article