Gay and Lesbian Harvard Students Seek the Right To Serve, Sit-in for Repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell"

PRESS ADVISORY

May 9, 2008

Contact: Jacob Reitan, 952-212-8311, jreitan@hds.harvard.edu

CAMBRIDGE, MA – On May 24th, the day after final exams end at Harvard University, a group of Harvard students will board a bus for a week long tour to hasten the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." Stopping in four cities, the students on the Harvard Right to Serve Campaign will make apparent the injustice of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" by attempting to sign up for military duty.

At each stop, an openly gay, lesbian, or bisexual Harvard student who wants to serve will attempt to sign up for the military. When the student's desire to serve is rejected due to their sexual orientation, the rest of the students both gay and straight will sit in at the recruitment center, in solidarity. Arrests are expected.

Clayton W. Brooks III, an openly gay sophomore at Harvard, is one of several students on the tour who would likely be serving in the military today, if not for "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." Brooks explained: "My parents raised me with an immense respect for the men and women who sacrificed their lives for the ideals of this nation. I had long had a desire to attend the US Naval Academy. I wanted to give back in the most meaningful way I knew how. I was hurt that, in order to do so, my country would force me to live a lie."

Since "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" was instated in 1993, it has been used to discharge over 12,000 personnel. Campaign Chairperson Jacob Reitan, a masters student in Theological Studies, calls "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" "clear-cut government discrimination." The public seems to agree. A CNN poll in 2007 indicated that 79% of Americans think people who are openly gay or homosexual should be allowed to serve in the U.S. military.

Currently, 142 members of the House of Representatives are co-sponsoring the Military Readiness Enhancement Act (H.R. 1246), which would repeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." The Harvard Right to Serve Campaign is aimed at getting a similar bill introduced into the United States Senate.

The tour begins in Boston on May 24 and will continue to Portland, ME (May 26-27), New York, NY (May 28), and Washington, DC (May 30). In each of the four cities, students will raise local awareness and ask five key senators to introduce the Military Readiness Enhancement Act in the Senate. The senators include: Ted Kennedy (D-MA), Susan Collins (R-ME), John McCain (R-AZ), Hilary Clinton (D-NY), and Barak Obama (D-IL).

For more information, please visit the tour website, www.harvardrighttoserve.org, or contact Jacob Reitan. Cell: 952-212-8311. Email: jreitan@hds.harvard.edu