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LGBT voters should support JROTC in city’s high schools
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Credit: Jamie Whitaker
I say Do Ask, Do Tell the politicians and activists trying to kill the JROTC program in city high schools the following questions and thoughts:
- Why in the world would adult LGBT San Franciscans stand against a school program that provides LGBT high school students with the comforts of “stability, acceptance and happiness” that may or may not be available to these kids at home?
- In light of 2006’s Halloween in the Castro gang-related shootings, why would we want to remove a school program that provides the discipline, structure, and respect that students may have to find by way of joining a neighborhood gang otherwise?
- Are we more concerned about students wearing uniforms or students tagging and otherwise vandalizing public and private property in their free time?
- Why isn’t the SFUSD School Board more concerned about high school dropout rates than they are about killing off a program proven to give students the moral support they may not receive from their parents?
The JROTC program in San Francisco high schools welcomes all genders, races, physical abilities, and sexual orientations. If you read the article about the program and one of its openly gay participants in the San Francisco Chronicle in November 2006, you understand that the JROTC program in San Francisco does not have any sort of “don’t ask, don’t tell” or other discriminatory policy towards LGBT students. In fact, it is a platform for these students to build their self-esteem, to become confident young adults, and to show those who doubt LGBT persons’ abilities to serve in the military that LGBT people can lead, protect freedom, and kick ass just as much as the next Joe.
While we ask voters to protect freedoms in California by voting no on Proposition 8 in November (the discriminatory measure to amend the California Constitution that would ban marriages for same-sex couples), it troubles me that some LGBT activists are spending valuable time trying to take away the freedoms of LGBT students in the schools to choose JROTC instead of gym class for their physical education credit requirements.
On Wednesday, Marine Staff Sgt. Eric Alva, the first American soldier wounded in Iraq and 2007 SF Pride Parade grand marshal, will speak out against the U.S. military’s "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy at a House Armed Services subcommittee hearing scheduled by Democrats in Congress. If Senator Barack Obama is elected President of the United States, the Democrats plan to lift the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” ban on gays in the military in 2009. While most JROTC participants in San Francisco’s high schools do not join the military, wouldn’t it be nice to provide those students who do with a head start towards doing well in a military career if that is what they choose? That’s what freedom is all about – and why we need to protect freedom for all people, adolescents and adults.
While the SFUSD School Board politicians ignored the will of the parents and the kids who support the JROTC program, those parents and kids recognized that they have the power. Because of their efforts and leadership, you can vote yes for showing your support for the JROTC program in San Francisco high schools on the local ballot while you also vote no on Proposition 8 on the state ballot in November. Use your vote to protect freedoms this November, not take freedoms away from others.
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