The Transitive Property: A Response to the Ad Hoc's Recommendation for ROTC's Return
Monday, April 25th, 2011 | By Cristopher Bautista
http://www.stanforddaily.com/2011/04/25/the-transitive-property-a-response-to-the-ad-hoc%E2%80%99s-recommendation-for-rotc%E2%80%99s-return/ (http://www.stanforddaily.com/2011/04/25/the-transitive-property-a-response-to-the-ad-hoc%E2%80%99s-recommendation-for-rotc%E2%80%99s-return/)
Recently, an ad hoc committee consisting of Stanford students and faculty was formed in order to research the merits of the return of ROTC to campus. Last week this committee released a statement supporting the return of ROTC. Section 5.1 of the statement specifically addresses the argument of ROTC's violation of the nondiscrimination policy.
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The committee was dismissive of transgender people and their experiences. Those words—"alleged persistence of discrimination"—it's interesting how this discrimination is "alleged"—as if it's merely something that people talked about to stall, that it's all ultimately a lie. Tell that to somebody who did experience that discrimination. Some students' support of the return of ROTC and the military's presence on campus led them to say (unintentionally or intentionally) transphobic statements. I had to face that. My transgender friends faced it. This discrimination is not "alleged." It actually happened. If ROTC discriminated against women, an ethnic minority or a religious minority, we would not even be having this debate. The fact that this debate is even occurring in the first place—that there needs to be a <I>committee<P> on this—is in essence problematic.