The Defense Department has been spying on groups protesting against
the military’s discrimination against homosexuals. Surveillance
of protests against the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” law and the precense of
military recruiters on campuses (which is in clear violation of
university anti-discrimination policies) at New York University, the
University of
California at Berkeley and the University of California at Santa Cruz
was conducted by US agents. The Defense Department used the
“potential for confrontation” as a justification for its surveillance
on protesters and campus organizations. The following from a
Pentagon memo reveals the utter ridiculousness of their justification for
the surveillance on a campus group named OUTlaws:
“The term ‘OUTlaws’ is a backhanded way of saying it’s all right to
commit possible violence and serve as ‘vigilantes’ during the
symposium,” and later admits that ‘OUTlaws’ “may refer to members of the gay community that are now ‘out’
in the open and studying at law school.”
At a time when laws are passed banning gay marriage (and now
adoption by gay couples), religious fanatics violently attacks gays,
and a culture of bigotry and intolerance is promoted by the highest
levels of government, does government surveillance of campus
organizations protesting for gay rights raise the specter of fascism to
you?
The World Can’t Wait! Drive Out the Bush Regime!
(Source: Pentagon admits spying on ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ protests, RawStory.com, 4/11/06)