LGBT ruling opens educational and career doors

A California federal judge’s recent ruling that “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” is unconstitutional put “one more nail in the coffin” of the policy which prevents openly lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals from serving in the military, according to Director of the LGBT Center Bob Schoenberg.

Since “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” went into effect in 1993, the LGBT community at Penn has opposed the presence of ROTC and military recruitment on campus.

Many, like Schoenberg, are hoping that the end of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” will enable LGBT students to receive the financial and educational benefits of ROTC and be eligible to work for the CIA, FBI and Judge Advocate General’s Corps.

“We’ve had many cadets and midshipmen over the years in the Army and Air Force ROTC who have not been able to publicly declare who they are because of fear of losing the financial support that they receive,” he said.

There has been a long history of activism against “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” at Penn. Lambda Law, a Penn Law LGBT advocacy group, has held protest rallies and protest interviews with military recruiters to request the legislative repeal of the policy.

“Inequality in our society should not be tolerated,” Lambda Law President Dwayne Bensing wrote in an e-mail. “The brave young people who sign up to protect this country should be allowed to do so with dignity and without fear of being expelled because of a fundamental characteristic of who they are,” he said.

Bensing added that Lambda Law will continue to campaign against “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” until it is overturned.

Lieutenant Colonel Joan Fournier, commander for the Air Force ROTC in Philadelphia, however, remains uncertain of the effect of on-campus protests against military recruitment.

“It doesn’t do a lot of good to protest against our level,” said Fournier. “Washington is where the decisions are made.”

Steven Goodman, an educational consultant, believes that the end of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” will benefit the military by providing them with a larger pool of students to draw from. It will also “lessen the tensions between universities and the military,” he said.

Sally Rubenstone, a senior advisor at College Confidential, agreed, saying, “Military recruiters will feel more welcome and ROTC programs will be more tolerated.”

Rubenstone added that the end of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” will lead to a “coming together” of two constituencies on campus. While openly LGBT students will be able to pursue a career in the military, current ROTC students will feel more comfortable speaking about their future employers at a “liberal” institution such as Penn.

“The military will no longer be considered a discriminatory organization,” she said.

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