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Washington Free Press - Jan/Feb 1997
Don't Ask, Don't Recruit
Seattle
Lags Behind Other Cities in Banning Discriminatory Military Recruiters.
by Michael Dedrick
Free Press Contributor
The Seattle School District, by allowing military recruiters on its high
school campuses, is evidently in conflict with its own policy of
non-discrimination based on sexual orientation. This policy, in effect
since 1991, is in clear conflict with the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell"
guidelines of the Department of Defense. The Seattle School District
Superintendent's office, when asked for the authority under which the
military is allowed into schools, referred to a state statute (RCW
28A.230.180) that gives access to military recruiters "on the same basis"
as any other organization that seeks to make students aware of
occupational or educational options. In actual fact, the military enjoys
an exception to district policy. If Microsoft or Boeing for example, had
employment policies that rejected gay/lesbian job applicants or fired them
for open admission of their sexual orientation, would these companies be
allowed on high school campuses?
Despite federal and state laws that
mandate access by the military to public schools, there have been several
successful efforts to ban recruiters from high school and college
institutions because of discrimination against gays and lesbians.
In December 1991, the Rochester City School District in New York excluded
armed forces recruiters by passing a resolution that barred recruiters
from any organization that has a stated policy that "discriminates against
any person on the basis of race, color, religion, handicap, political
beliefs, age, economic status, or sexual orientation." The board said that
the armed forces have a policy of sexual discrimination, quoting from a
Department of Defense directive that states "homosexuality is incompatible
with military service." Although the Rochester resolution was challenged
in lower courts, it was upheld in the New York Court of Appeals, which
affirmed the school's right to exclude the armed forces on the same basis
as they would any other organization that discriminates. In a separate
case, in November 1993, Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Diane Lebedeff
barred armed forces recruiters from the state law school in Buffalo
because of discrimination against gays and lesbians. Judge Lebedeff found
that former New York governor Cuomo's Executive order #28, which prohibits
discrimination by executive branch agencies on the basis of sexual
orientation, applied to the school as well.
The ruling was the end result of a case
brought by a lesbian law student, who challenged the presence of military
recruiters on campus. In her decision, Lebedeff compared the case to a
similar case brought by gay and lesbian law students at the University of
Connecticut in 1992. In that decision, a Hartford superior court judge
held that an exemption from the school's nondiscrimination policy for
military recruiters had given the armed forces a "license" to
discriminate.
In August 1991, the Portland (Oregon) School Board voted to prohibit
military recruitment in the Portland Public Schools. The decision was the
culmination of over four years of effort by citizens and a variety of
peace, justice, and human rights organizations. The district passed two
resolutions: one banning any discrimination by recruiters (Resolution
X6497), and a second specifically finding "the United States Armed Forces
to be in violation of Board Action X6497." The resolution further "directs
the Principal... in each facility to prohibit any and all activities....
directed at recruiting for any of the Armed Forces of the United States
until such time as they cease their discriminatory activities."
There are some officials in our state who are concerned about
discrimination issues. Seattle School Board member Al Sugiyama questions
the presence of miliary recruiters in the schools. "I don't think any
organization that has a policy of discrimination should be allowed in the
schools. This not only includes the military, but also groups such as the
Boy Scouts, which has a policy of exclusion against gays."
There are other issues that highlight the
contradictions between military and civilian policies. At a time when
officials are increasingly concerned about violence and guns in schools,
there is a contradiction between the military's role as a heavily armed
institution committed to violent solutions for public policy, and the
school as teacher of nonviolent alternatives.
Another serious issue is the military's
ongoing tolerance of rape, assault and other forms of sexual abuse
directed toward females. After the Tailhook sexual harassment scandal, a
1995 General Accounting Office study found that women at the three elite
military service academies were "being sexually harassed at the same, or
in some cases, higher rates than three years ago" (New York Times,
5 April 1995).
Sexist attitudes in the military are represented at the most senior levels
of command and reflect inapropriate role models for young people. After
the rape of a 12 year old Okinawan girl by three service men in his
command, Admiral Richard Macke, commander of U.S. forces in the Pacific,
told reporters that "I think it was absolutely stupid" and the three
should have hired a prostitute "for the same price" they paid to rent a
car and abduct and assault the girl.
Help Activists with Test Case
The issues of homophobia, sexism and violence have generated opposition to
military recruiters in many schools nationwide. Locally, Seattle Draft and
Military Counseling Service (SDMCC) is attempting to persuade the Seattle
School Board to bar recruiters outright from district schools and/or to
bring a lawsuit to force the district to obey its own discrimination
policies. Although legal advice has been given, a firm offer of legal
counsel has not yet been obtained, nor has a gay/lesbian plaintiff
volunteered for a test case. Anyone interested in being a part of this
effort can contact:
SDMCC
PO Box 20604
Seattle, Wa. 98102
Tel.(206) 328-5477
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