HLS (Harvard Law School) Holds Conference on Gay Activism

[kweerwolf]

Students from Lambda, Harvard Law School’s gay rights organization, convened Saturday at the first annual Gay and Lesbian Legal Advocacy conference to map out the course of gay rights activism following the recent Supreme Court ruling upholding the Solomon Amendment.

At the end of a day-long conference, Lambda honored Boston College law professor Kent Greenfield for his work in challenging the Solomon Amendment. The day featured panels planning ways to attack the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, which prohibits openly gay and lesbian individuals from serving, and discussing “ex-gay treatment,” a movement by some faith-based groups to alter the sexual orientation of homosexuals.

Greenfield accepted the organization’s Leadership Award at the dinner banquet for founding and leading the Forum for Academic and Institutional Rights. FAIR, a coalition of 40 law schools, unsuccessfully sought over the last two and half years to overturn the Solomon Amendment, a federal law that forces universities to choose between forgoing federal funds and allowing the military to recruit on their campuses. Schools have refused to do so because “don’t ask, don’t tell” clashes with many law schools’—including Harvard’s—non-discrimination policies.

“History will prove that fighting for the right for people to love the people they want to love is the civil rights issue of our time,” Greenfield said when accepting the award.

http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=512584