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"?