may 6.2005 ’ jUSt OUt 21
F7TÍV7TT7ÍT1 news
add sexual orientation as a protected category.
Today all hut a handful of schixils do so.
Noting that the Pentagon’s policy known as
“don’t ask, don’t tell” discriminates against gays
and lesbians in employment, rhe law schools
said they would bar military recruiters from
campus.
The backlash began in 1994 when U.S. Rep.
Gerald Solomon, R-N.Y., offered the first in a
series of amendments and then a law to force
the schcxils to help military recruiters or lose
access to all government-funded programs,
including student loans.
A coalition of law schools organized as FAIR
and sued to bkxrk the law. A 3rd Circuit appeals
court sitting in Philadelphia agreed with their
arguments. Writing for rhe 2-1 majority, Judge
Thomas L. Ambro drew heavily upon two
Supreme Court decisions that at the time were
seen as defeats for gay rights advocates.
One case is Boy Scouts of America vs. Dale,
where rhe court said the organization did not
have to admit an openly gay scoutmaster
because it would “significantly burden the Boy
Scouts’ desire to not promote homosexual con
duct as a legitimate form of behavior.”
Soulforce protesters march around the Focus on
headquarters and deliver 1,000 letters.
S oi lforce P rotests
Fix es on the F amily
About 1,000 gay, lesbian, bisexual and trans
gender individuals, couples and families, their
allies and clergy tixik on Focus on the Family, a
conservative Christian church and media
source, by picnicking and praying in front of its
headquarters May 1 in Colorado Springs, Colo.
Portland was represented at the protest by Bon
nie Tinker of Love Makes a Family.
Three people, Philip Reitan, 57, Randi Rei-
tan, 54, and their son, Jacob Reitan, 23, all of
Eden Prairie, Minn., were arrested as they
attempted to deliver a letter to James Dobson,
rhe head of Fix: us on the Family. They were
arrested on trespassing charges and released,
according to The Rocky Mountain News.
The Reitans are part of Soulforce, a national
gay advocacy group that came to Colorado
Springs to protest what it calls “hurtful rhetoric”
on homosexuality from Dobson and Focus on
the Family. The ministry was closed to visitors
May 2.
In the letter that the Reitans attempted to
deliver to Dobson, they wrote:
“Phil and I have a gay son, Jake. When Jake
first came out to us, we knew
nothing about homosexuality.
We had to educate ourselves. We
read many books, hut more
importantly, we talked to psy
chologists and psychiatrists about
understanding homosexuality.
We were told to love and accept
Jake as a gay man. We were told
that reparative therapy is harm
ful. We listened to their advice,
and we began a new journey of
understanding as parents.
“There was never a moment
we did not love or accept our
dearvson. But we struggled with
how best to see the day Jake is
loved, accepted and understood
the Family
by society. As parents and Chris
tians, we felt called to work for
justice for all in the gay commu
nity.... We know that God loves Jake just as he
is...a gay man. We know that Jesus is with Jake
each day as Jake works to see the day all in the
gay community are respected and given the
same rights and privileges we all enjoy. We pray
that day comes sixin. And as we read in Micah
6:8: ‘What does the Lord require of thee, but to
do justice, and to love mercy, and to walk
Ambro applied that same logic to this case,
writing, “The law schools believe that employ
ment discrimination is inconsistent with their
commitment to justice and fairness” and should
not be compelled to accept military recruiters.
He called rhe Solomon Amendment an unjusti
fiably blunt weapon to assist the recruitment
effort; “it could barely be tailored more broadly.”
The Pentagon has other
less intrusive and burden
some methixls by which
to recruit lawyers.
Furthermore, “The
government has failed to
proffer a shred of evi
dence that the Solomon
Amendment materially
enhances its stated goal.”
It may plausibly be argued
that it has generated such
ill will that it “actually
impedes recruitment.”
The U.S. House of
Representatives reacted
by passing a “Sense of
Congress”
resolution Colorado Springs police officers arrest Jake Reitan and his mother,
when it returned in Feb Randi, along with his father, Phillip, as they attempt to deliver a letter
ruary. If reaffirmed the to James Dobson.
Solomon Amendment
and urged an appeal to the Supreme Court, humbly with thy God?’ ”
though it had no binding legal power. The vote
In response, Focus on rhe Family held a press
was 327-84, with strong Dem<x:ratic support.
conference to reaffirm its stance that homosex
While not a party to the FAIR lawsuit, uality is incompatible with Christian Scripture.
Servicemembers Legal Defense Network filed a Additionally, Extxlus International, an organiza
brief in support of that position during rhe tion that “saves” homosexuals through “conver
Philadelphia appeal. It is likely to do so again sion” back to heterosexuality, reminded the
now that the matter is before rhe Supreme press that, in its view, homosexuals chixise their
Court.
lifestyles.
—BR
. —SD JM
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