September 24, 2007
Protecting Homosexuals at Columbia from Discrimination II Posted by Alexander Burns at 10:00 AM EST John Steele Gordon calls my latest post “utter nonsense.” “If discriminating against homosexuals is bad, hanging them is far, far worse,” he writes. Obviously, I agree. Mr. Gordon continues: “If gay students at Columbia need be “shielded” from having to face the presence on their campus of an organization that requires homosexuals to keep quiet about their sexual orientation, they surely should not have to face the presence on their campus of someone who hangs people for being gay, even if that person will not be hanging any homosexuals on Morningside Heights.” In my view, there is a difference between actively discriminating against someone and advocating for the subjugation of similar people. I’ve already attempted, twice, to outline this distinction, as I see it. Mr. Gordon evidently finds this distinction unconvincing, and that’s fair enough. He views this pair of moral problems and resolves them differently, and I find his reasoning interesting. It’s disappointing to me that Mr. Gordon would call mine “nonsense.” Given what a civil and respectful conversation this has been, such labeling seems rather cheap. But hey, I’ve been a Mets fan for 21 years and I can live with disappointment. I’ll add one correction. Mr. Gordon suggests that I do “not seem to understand what ROTC is.” I am actually quite familiar with what ROTC is, if not with the specifics of Columbia’s relationship with the organization. Harvard also bans ROTC, and ROTC-enrolled students here take their classes at MIT. I have good friends in the organization. I regret my careless wording, which may have inadvertently conflated the issues of allowing ROTC on campus and allowing military recruitment in general. The issues are, of course, related. For what it’s worth, I also know plenty of people who actively oppose bringing the military back to Harvard’s campus, for reasons totally unrelated to “anti-military posturing.” Their opposition has to do with the fact that the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy is an institution of tremendous intolerance. I do not doubt their sincerity.
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