LiEGiAMl.w~ BRIEFS BY BETH ROBINSON AND SUSAN MURRAY e all know about ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,’ that " infamous 1993 ‘com- promise’ policy that was sup- posed to allow gays to serve in the military as long as they did- n’t “tell” anyone they were gay. Instead of "reducing the amount _of harassmentand pursuit of gay members of the armed services, Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell has actu- ally resulted in a surge of heavy- handed investigations, extracted confessions, and discharges of gay and lesbian service mem- A bers. , _ _ But there’s another aspectofi ' ' the federal govemm_ent’s anti- gay military policy that you may "not know about: the so-called ‘Solomon Amendment.’ Not content with the ongoing purge A of gay military members under ' -Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, in 1997 Congress passed this amend- ment; it essentially uses federal funds as a_stick to coerce col- leges and universities into’ dis- criminating against gays. The vast majority of our nation’s colleges and graduate schools depend on federal fund- ing for student loans and student work study programs. For years, many of these schools have refused to allow Reserve Officer Training Corps programs or mil— . itary recruiters to operate on campus because ofthe military’s discrimination against its gay students. The Solomon Amendment now requires colleges and uni- versities to let the military" recruit on campus — even‘ though itwill not, of course, recruit or hire a gay person. If the school does not allow mili- tary recruiters or an ROTC pro- gram on campus, its federal workistudy and student loan funding is cut off! This federal regulation obvi- ously puts schools in a bind, especially in 8a place like Vermont, where state anti—dis- crimination law prohibits dis- crimination against gays in employment and. public accom- modations. lfa school allows the military on campus, it risks vio- lating Vermont’s anti-discrimi- nation law, not to mention arous- ing the ire ofthe student body. If it refuses to comply, it forfeits its federal student aid, thereby _ aaaoaaaaaaa Amendments of the United States Constitution, and to pro- hibit the federal government from withholding student finan- cial aid funds. The suit could take months to decide, and may well go all the way to the United States Supreme Court. Interestingly, the students say that the military never even asked to come onto campus If a sch ool allows the military on campus, it risks violating Vermont’s =8 iantialiscrimination law, not to student body. jeopardizing its - economic" via- bility ai1d’the educational oppor- tunities of many of its students. A group‘ of students at Vermont Law School has had enough of the ., Solomon Amendment’s blatant discrimi- nation. In late January, an alliance of LGBT and straight students, along with supportive faculty, filed a lawsuit in federal court to try to overturn the amendment. The lawsuit points out that Vermont Law School has prohibited military recruit- ment on campus for at least 10 years, in accordance with Vermont law and its own anti- discrimination policy. However, since the majority of the school’s students depend on federal student aid, passage of the Solomon Amendment forced the law school to let mil- itary recruiters on campus, so that its students would not lose their estimated $420,000 per year in financial aid. In other words, the school was unconsti- tutionally coerced into acting as an agent of the federal govern- ment in discriminating against gay students. The students are asking the court to declare the Solomon Amendment unconstitutional under the Fifth and Tenth mention arousing the ire of the before the Solomon Amendment was passed; presumably, it was able to recruit all the Vermont law students it needed by inter- viewing at recruiting offices off- campus. Once the Solomon Amendment passed, however, recruiters immediately insisted on coming to campus. According to their press release, students believe that the recruiters are “visiting the cam- pus to enforce a Congressional ideology, rather than to meet any supposed military’ need for Vermont students.” While the lawsuit is going on, a member of Rep. Barney Frank’s staff says that the law- maker intends tointroduce legis- lation in Congress to repeal the Solomon Amendment. Stay tuned! V Susan Murray and Beth Robinson are attorneys at Langrock Sperry & Wool in Mia"a'lebury whose practices include general commercial and civil litigation, emp/oynment, family. estate, personal injury. and workers compensation eases. lf you ’a’ like our column to COV€l‘_lI particular legal issue of interest to our community, please write OITM or call us at 388-6356. OUT IN THE MOUNTAINS — MARCH 1999 — 11 WE'RE ON THE STREET! Come See the New Digs! \ ERYJ ° Bridge Street Entrance Jinn» i ! §AF.E_.f:.J Bakery: Mon-Fri 6-6, Sun 86 Sat 8-] Breakfast: Mon-Fri 6-1 I Brunch: Sun 65¢ Sat 8-1 Lunch Every Day Bridge Street, Richmond 0 434-3148 ° Increased Seating ° Expanded Menu ' Wheelcliaii‘ Accessible V.‘ ,.r .._.._. ..__. WATCH FOR THE ANNOUNCEMENT or... Local Legends 1 3. THURSDAYSIMONTH, 7:30-10PM tBestTin_ local acoustic music -_t;he,jsarne relaxed setting. 9 Golden Threads ./\/\/\,/“\/ Discreet Contact Publication for Lesbian Women over 50. and younger httpzl /members.aol.com/goldentred / index.htm Sample Copy $5 email: GOLDEN'IRED@ao1.com P. O Box 65, Richford, VT 05476-0065 434-B486. V mountains of opportunity. advertise in UITM. ' LO: Acdt ls/we. Alotb. golel, But we got lotsa pots. 207 FLYNN AVE. BURLINGTON, VT BY THE TRACKS 802-860-1488 Antiques, Collectibles & Useful Things Houras: Tues-5Ar1O-6, SUN 1-5, CLOSED MONDAY THREE OLD BATS tell them you found it at 'l'l|A'|' BOOK STORE... (now an Railroad Street) USED AND ANTIQUARIAN BOOKS BUY 0 Sill 0 TRADE USED AND OUT-OF-PRINT BOOKS ' POSTCARDS PAPER EPHEMERA ' VT AND NH BOOKS Holiday - Saturday 10:00 - 0:00, Sunday 11:00 - 8:00 80 Rairoad Street, St. Johslnry, Vermont 05819 002 748-1722 - 0-anal: m@nuunm.nvnss.coa ' IOI STREETEI - DAVE WARDEN Quite Simply... The finest collection of Furniture, Carpeting 8: Accessories in Vermont Rutland House Ltd. rtes 11/30 ¥ in the heart of monchester center, Vermont (802) 362-2001 162 south moin street rutlond, Vermont 05701 (802) 775-291 1 from all over Vermont: (800) 649-2911