The Angry Fag

News and Views from a Man Who Likes Men

San Francisco Moves to Eliminate Junior ROTC Program from Schools

Posted on | May 23, 2006

The San Francisco Board of Education is moving to eliminate the Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps from their schools in another attack against the Military’s "Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell" rule which bars openly homosexual men and women from serving in any branch. The plan, which will be introduced tonight, calls for the creation of a task-force to create a program that mimics the Junior ROTC program but will not have any ties to the US Military. It will not receive a final vote until June.

This is one of these issues where I am a little ambivalent. I can see where San Francisco believes firmly that "Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell" is wrong and they are taking a stand against the US Military for continuing a bigoted and impractical policy. The city refused to allow berthing rights to the USS Iowa as a tourist attraction. The Board of Education has a non-discrimination policy that covers sexuality and I can definitely sympathize with the fact that they feel like they would be hypocritical if they enforced that policy yet still participated in the Junior ROTC program.

On the other hand though while San Francisco might be striking another blow for gay rights and all, honestly what is the impact? I do not think the military will care given that there are over 3,000 units around the country with over 400,000 students. And with 700 more schools are on a waiting list so I imagine San Francisco will be replaced just as soon as the Department of Defense can get it set up. In terms of finances, this is a stupid move because with the Junior ROTC program, the US Department of Defense pays for half the program. The district will have to foot the entire bill for any replacement program the task-force comes up with.

In any event, I can just see the neo-cons now. Michelle Malkin will probably paint this as more anti-US liberal posturing from San Francisco. Bill O’Reilly will blather on, as he usually does, about how the Military should skip helping San Francisco out in the case of a disaster or attack.

Filed Under Gay Rights |

Comments

2 Responses to “San Francisco Moves to Eliminate Junior ROTC Program from Schools”

  1. Kevin
    May 24th, 2006 @ 10:32 pm

    Of course, someone has to start somewhere about discrimination in the military. I think the other option, to roll over and play straight or keep quiet about who we are, is not something I really want to do. Discrimination is discrimination. As for Malkin and O’Reilly, they will blather on regardless and I don’t think we should keep quiet just to keep them from happy.

  2. The Angry Fag
    May 25th, 2006 @ 1:06 am

    Well, it comes down to who really is adversely affected by this decision. The military obviously is not given the waiting list. San Francisco school district and its students stand to lose a lot more.

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