Westside : ROTC Cadet Speaks Against Policy on Gays
A UCLA student facing discharge from the Army’s Reserve Officer Training Corps program after informing her commander that she is gay spoke out Wednesday against the military ban against declared homosexuals.
About 25 supporters flanked Huong Nguyen in a noontime rally on the Westwood campus.
She is the first ROTC cadet in California to be suspended under the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy under which the military can start discharge proceedings if service members acknowledge that they are gay.
Nguyen urged the university to protest the policy by providing financial aid to cadets who lose their ROTC scholarships after disclosing their homosexuality.
“This type of commitment would prove the university is serious about upholding the rights of lesbians, gays and bisexual students, and will not ignore the injustice occurring on its front doorstep,” Nguyen said.
The university has offered to help Nguyen obtain other sources of financial aid, according to a UCLA representative.
After telling ROTC Lt. Col. Michael Graves in a letter last May, “I can no longer remain silent about the fact that I am gay,” Nguyen was suspended from ROTC activities and placed on leave. She may be forced to repay almost $6,000 of scholarship money.
Nguyen described herself as being gay in the letter but she identifies herself as a bisexual.
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