April 12, 1999

•

Keep ROTC Ban in Place

To the editors:

John H. Whitehouse III (Letters, April 12) attributes the gay community's opposition to the return of ROTC to the Harvard campus to "self-righteous arrogance", citing the support by gay students of American troops in Kosovo. Whitehouse is correct in suggesting that gay students overwhelmingly support efforts by the United States military, in addition to supporting their peers in ROTC who have undertaken our national defense as their personal responsibility.

However, the U.S. military's valiant efforts in Kosovo do not excuse the discriminatory policies that this institution continues to enforce on our own soil and on our own campus. In this case, a right neither cancels nor justifies a wrong.

Whitehouse's assertion that the gay community's opposition to ROTC's return to Harvard's campus is a function of "feel[ing] uncomfortable" trivializes the challenges that gay students face each day in gaining and maintaining acceptance in our community. I urge Whitehouse to educate himself about the escalation of hate crimes against gays and lesbians in our society today, crimes which have been concentrated in areas where tolerance is not as widely practiced.