Military’s LGBT policy protested

Stephen Cheng Guest Writer

Katie Paul News Editor

More than 50 Vassar students protested at the Armed Forces Recruitment Office in Times Square on Wednesday, Sept. 20 and railed against the United States military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy, which they say is a violation of the civil rights of those who identify as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, or Transgender (LGBT).

Members of the student activist group ACT OUT participated in the “Right to Serve” campaign of Soul Force, a non-profit organization that coordinates nation-wide demonstrations demanding that openly LGBT persons be allowed to serve in the military.

Activist Eva Grenier ’09 said, “If the army needs people, there’s no reason why any fit U.S. citizen cannot serve. And there are gay and lesbian people willing to serve.”

Prior to the demonstration, 11 Vassar students had committed themselves to acts of civil disobedience; they intended to enlist in the armed forces after publicly stating their sexual orientation. The recruiters would have had to turn them away, in which case the students would have continued to demand their right to serve until arrested for blocking the entrance.

The recruitment office never opened on Wednesday morning, and the students who had planned on civil disobedience staged a sit-in at its entrance instead. The rest of the demonstrators held a silent vigil around the Times Square perimeter, handing out flyers and placing black tape over their mouths to symbolize the silence imposed on LGBT military personnel every day. No arrests were made, though the New York Police Department (NYPD) dispatched 12 uniformed officers with plastic handcuffs within minutes of the start of the protest. A recruiter arrived to work at the office, but the NYPD took him aside and he departed.

Former Navy Public Relations Officer Rhonda Davis said the practice of keeping the office closed is quite common when the military becomes aware of planned protests. “They know if they come out here, they’re going to say something stupid,” she said, emphasizing that arrests in cases such as this are poor publicity for the armed forces. “I think the military knows they’re wrong. There’s nothing they can say to justify it.”

Davis was discharged after her superiors learned that she had spoken at a marriage equality protest and identified herself as gay; the reason for dismissal listed on her discharge forms is “homosexuality.”

Fellow protestor and 10-year veteran Denny Meyer of the American Veterans for Equal Rights (AVER) agreed with Davis about the official response to the protest. Meyer said, “This is significant. The NYPD doesn’t want the embarrassment of having to arrest these kids.”

Although the U.S. military does not accept LGBT recruits, Meyer said, “[The NYPD] don’t have a problem with this—they recruit gays.” Davis added, “They called me right after I was discharged. We can join the CIA, the FBI…just not the military.”

The “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy was the result of a 1993 compromise between then-President Bill Clinton and socially conservative interest groups. Under the policy, openly declaring a non-heterosexual preference leads to immediate discharge; 11,000 members of the armed forces have since been dismissed for being openly gay. However, public opinion has changed over the years, and a Pew Research Center survey conducted this year found that 60 percent of respondents favored allowing gay troops to serve openly in the military.

When asked if the protest had successfully conveyed its message, Soul Force President Jacob Reitan said, “Absolutely. The center shut down for today. Nobody was recruited at this location. MTV, PBS, Logo and CBS National News are here to share it with the world.”

Jazmyne Crunk ’07, a member of the ACT OUT executive board, expressed a more sober view while distributing flyers. “It’s been a little frustrating, because the majority of people just ignore you,” said Crunk. “But every once in a while a person gets really shocked and say he or she will tell family members to check out our Web site. I feel like it’s worth it even if it’s changing the mind of one person.”

According to ACT OUT President Curtis Peterson ’07, the group was created last year when 12 Vassar students went to West Point Academy to oppose “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” The West Point protest was the last stop on a Soul Force campaign called “Equality Ride,” a “a seven-week bus tour of the states that models itself on the Freedom Rides and nonviolent civil rights demonstrations in the 1960s.” Peterson was arrested at last year’s protest after he stepped onto West Point property and stated disparaging facts about the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy.