No Excuses Left for ROTC's Ban
By Editorial Board — January 31, 2011 — Opinion — Volume XLV, Issue 8
http://stanfordreview.org/article/no-excuses-left-for-rotc-banAs the rest of campus warms to the idea of ROTC returning, a few loud anti-military activists are grasping for whatever arguments they can find. They now say that ROTC must wait until the military treats transgender individuals equally. We agree that banning transgender people from the military, or treating them differently from anyone else, is stupid and wrong. Preventing skilled Americans from serving our country makes no sense. Yet the right thing to do for campus, for ROTC cadets, and for transgender individuals themselves is to let ROTC return to Stanford.
Does anybody really think that banning ROTC hastened the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell? To us, it's clear that we owe its repeal to social change in the military itself and in the outside world. Anti-military activists are opposing this crucial liberalizing force by preventing bright, open-minded college students from entering the military and ostracizing those few who do. In doing so, these activists are extinguishing the hopes of proud transgender individuals who wish someday to serve their country. If they really wanted to free transgender individuals from military discrimination, they'd want as many Stanford student leaders in the military as possible.
