Let me begin this post by saying that I really do love my gays and I truly believe in full equality for all citizens--no matter their sexual orientation, race, gender, etc.
With that said, what I'm going to say next may sound bad to some.
I'm taking the LSAT in June (yay me!) and as I was registering the other night, I was reading one of the sections regarding information to GLBT applicants. It talks about how they'll be treated in various law schools and answers the following questions:
Does the law school have a nondiscrimination policy which prohibits discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity?
Does the law school have a lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender student organization?
Does the law school have any openly lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender faculty members?
Does the law school offer any courses specific to lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender legal issues?
Does the law school offer any form of domestic partnership benefits to faculty, staff, or students?
Now, I think this is great information to have for applicants and it will be very valuable.
However, I feel that the resources available to GLBT applicants are more than fair. Why isn't there a publication about single parent law associations for example?
Part of this section talks about military recruiters on law school campuses. From what I understand, because the military openly discriminates against GLBT people, many law schools refuse to let them recruit on campus. However, a few years ago, Congress passed a law that states that a law school may lose funding if it does not allow these recruiters on campus. So, in order for these schools not to lose funding, if they do allow these recruiters on campus, they have a process of amelioration to provide assistance to GLBT students by the discrimination they may face with the military.
I think part of the reason this bothers me is that so many people and organizations put an emphasis on "How to treat GLBT people" when most of them (at least, my friends, I think) just want to be treated like everyone else. They don't want any special treatment or what not.
Being gay is a part of them but it doesn't make them who they are.
I HATE when my friends or any other gay person I know is discriminated against because they are gay. It really annoys me and I will fight to the end to eradicate it.
But still. It's hard for me. I've worked hard and I deserve something good to happen to me. But why should a person get special treatment or resources solely because of their sexual orientation?
Is there such a thing as too much equality?
1 things you gotta say:
Is there such a thing as too much equality?
Simply put, no.
But I think your example shows that what's really lacking here is adequate organization around single-parent issues, not too much sensitivity toward LGBT people. Rather than believing the right-wing argument (originally meant to target affirmative action programs) that someone is getting special rights, I think the issue here is that there is a group still not getting their fair share of attention and resources. I think you should just change perspective - LGBT students aren't taking away resources for others, they've created a model around which single parents could organize. LGBT students borrowed their model from African-American students. Would you make the same complaint about "special rights" if the same amount of time/attention was given to ethnic minorities?
Just some thoughts.
Also, FYI, the Supreme Court recently ruled (or let a lower court ruling stand, I'm not sure) that publicly funded universities can no longer prohibit military recruiters based on the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy. At the same time, however, those schools must allow protest of military policies.
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