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'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' Finds Traction On Campuses

Dan Choi

The Huffington Post   First Posted: 05/25/10 06:12 AM ET Updated: 05/25/11 04:55 PM ET

George Washington University student Todd Belok dreamed of serving in the Navy. But less than two years ago, Belok was expelled from the Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps -- because two of his training corps peers saw him kissing his boyfriend at a party.

Belok is now waging a one-man fight against "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," traveling the country to speak about the policy. But his banishment from the training corps also rippled waters nationwide.

According to the GW Hatchet:

Since Belok's discharge protests, rallies and marches in his honor and against the "don't ask, don't tell" policy have taken place on campus and nationally. Belok has been interviewed by CNN, FOX News and the Washington Post in recent months and said he is working with national leaders, including the Servicemember's Legal Defense Network and Servicemember's United, to end the policy. Earlier this month, he appeared in national media after wearing a "Fired Under don't ask, don't tell" T-shirt to a press conference.

The movement on campuses to repeal the controversial policy is picking up speed -- and vocal supporters. On Wednesday, the Harvard Crimson reported that Harvard Law School Dean Martha L. Minow co-signed a landmark letter to Congress supporting the policy's abolishment.

"'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' directly obstructs our efforts, preventing some of our best and brightest from serving their country in the Armed Forces," the deans wrote in their letter. "Discharging gay, lesbian, and bisexual service members merely because of their sexual orientation is never justified."


Robert Greenwald, senior clinical instructor of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Law Clinic at HLS, said that he thinks the letter reflects the perspective of the majority of Americans today.


"In the past there may have been more of a range of views--in the Law School and in the American public--but over the past years people have gained a better understanding of the rights for the gay and lesbian community," Greenwald said.

And days after Iraq veteran and gay rights activist Dan Choi handcuffed himself to a White House fence in protest of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," he spoke to students at Penn State University about the policy, calling it 'the most despicable law.'

Onward State reports further:

A perspicacious Choi told his audience, if they are worried about being judged-either for being LGBT or helping the LGBT community- that they should be more concerned with how future generations will judge them for not doing anything and sitting in silence.

What does your campus think about "Don't Ask, Don't Tell"?

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George Washington University student Todd Belok dreamed of serving in the Navy. But less than two years ago, Belok was expelled from the Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps -- because two of his tra...
George Washington University student Todd Belok dreamed of serving in the Navy. But less than two years ago, Belok was expelled from the Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps -- because two of his tra...
 
 
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indamiddle
I do not support single party rule
10:17 PM on 03/26/2010
Any Campus that drove off recruiters should have no relevance in this argument.
12:00 PM on 03/26/2010
Repeal DADT now!
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jeremyfive
10:28 AM on 03/26/2010
The abuse of the ill-considered "Don't Ask Don't Tell" policy under the neanderthal George W. Bush administration is perhaps the lowest point in American history. It is an outrage. It is distilled discrimination. It is cruel. It is unreasonable. Pure bigotry. Total intolerance. It has resulted in multiple murders of honest taxpaying servicemen and women.

Only one more reason why George W. Bush should be tried and punished severely. This is the lowest of the low. An obscene chapter in American history.
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LDF
That's me in the red coat
09:45 AM on 03/26/2010
Does the Republican Party have a "don't ask, don't tell" policy for itself?
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KenClay
REPEAL DOMA
07:34 AM on 03/26/2010
Are Grieving Gay Partners/ Spouse allowed to cry and mourn at a Military Funeral for their loved one ? REPEAL DADT NOW!
11:49 PM on 03/25/2010
"perspicacious"? I think I need a Pell grant...
09:15 PM on 03/25/2010
Last time I checked, the military has in essence always been "don't ask don't tell" as heterosexuals aren't encouraged to present/flaunt there heterosexuality either in the military.
09:38 PM on 03/25/2010
Are heterosexuals allowed to bring a spouse or partner to a Mess Dinner?

Are heterosexuals allowed to be greeted by family members kissing them after a long deployment?

Are heterosexuals allowed to walk the streets in on-base housing holding hands with their spouse/partner?

Are heterosexuals allowed to claim a spouse's effects after death?

Are heterosexuals allowed to seek help with bereavement after a spouse's death?

Doesn't sound like the restrictions the place on the LGBT community are in place for the heterosexual community to me.
09:42 PM on 03/25/2010
Too long, too trivial a list. Try this:

Are Heterosexuals allowed to talk about who it is they love and miss back home?
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girlwild
Corporations aren't people until Texas executes 1
10:27 PM on 03/25/2010
More importantly, are heterosexuals discharged from the military when they are revealed to be heterosexual?
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02:59 AM on 03/26/2010
i look at it like this, they sure make a big stink about "don't tell," but i think that any of service members who harass those they think are gay, are "asking," but what is done about this? nothing. the rule is bullspit. anyone who wants to serve our country in the armed forces should be able to regardless of who they love. and those who try to hurt or out another service member need to be held responsible.
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oldwhitewomantoo
08:42 PM on 03/25/2010
This is the generation that can put this silly policy where it belongs ... in the past.
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Fred Hood
Out of many we are one ...B.O.
07:37 PM on 03/25/2010
LIBERTY AND JUSTICE FOR ALL....

what part of that do you have a problem with
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General Public
liberal, progressive, atheist, Democrat, SubGenius
05:49 PM on 03/25/2010
When I was in college there was a movement to kick military recruiters off campus because of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell". I think pretty much nobody at my college thought "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" was a reasonable policy. However, the administration at the time, that of George W. Bush, obviously did not care what progressive-minded college students across the nation thought, and continued the policy based on their own prejudices and bigotry. The idea of repealing it seemed impossible at the time, despite it being widely unpopular.
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rougebaisers