Sara Isaacson, a 21-year-old lesbian former ROTC student at UNC-Chapel Hill, will likely be on the hook for $79,265.14 — the amount the U.S. Army (read: taxpayers) provided in scholarship funds. After coming out to her commander (after coming out to herself) two days before Obama’s State of the Union address, Isaacson tells CampusProgress she was dropped from the ROTC program because of DADT; her commander is making the recommendation she repay all of her tuition. And here you thought Obama cared about gays in the military and making college more affordable.
ousslander
Yetanother reason to get rid of dadt and allow gays to serve openly. She should still pay it all back. Did she do it to get out of her commitment and get her college paid for?
Jon
@ousslander: Sometimes people just have to tell the truth to face a way they have been wronged. We all know it’s hard to stay in the closet when we are young and feel helpless.
B
No. 1 · ousslander wrote, “Yetanother reason to get rid of dadt and allow gays to serve openly. She should still pay it all back.”
I think she should pay none of it back and demand a medical discharge instead. If she was genetically predisposed to diabetes and developed it after college, and was discharged as a result, you would not expect her to have to pay back her tuition. It should be no different for her sexual orientation. The fact that diabetes is medically considered to be an illness, while being gay is not, is not relevant: if the Army decides that a physiological trait or condition that develops after enlisting is grounds for a discharge, it is the Army’s decision so the Army should pay.
alan brickman
ge rid of dadt so people can’t use it to get a free education and then bail…..
Jon
You can always get out anyways. Just don’t try. You might not like the type of discharge Lol!
AndrewW
It would have been cool if part of the $500,000 GetEqual wasted with their publicity stunts could have helped Sara. The LGBT Community helping each other is more effective than complaining.
Cassandra
“The LGBT Community helping each other is more effective than complaining.”
So, AndrewW – get out your checkbook and lead the way.
Within 24 hours, post a jpg of your check to Sara Isaacson for at least $100, to help her out of this jam.
And then, to confirm that you weren’t pulling yet another fraud, within 30 days, post a jpg of the canceled check.
I know, I know, your job is Scold First Class, and you shouldn’t have to dirty your hands by doing anything as practical as writing a check or actually helping anyone in any way.
Cumstain Jane
Notice that Andrew has nothing to mention about the $50 million or so (a conservative figure I might add) that the HRC has spent over the last thirty years getting what, federal employee protections and a hate crimes bill? Not a waste of money per se, but definitely a bad bargain for what the community paid for.
Tom in Lazybrook
@AndrewW: Get Equal does more before 8am than HRC has done in 30 years to advance LGBT equality.
I’ll let you get back to your black tie dinner. Maybe you can advance equality by building a skyscraper somewhere and never doing anything but using the donations raised to promote their own personal agendas.
ousslander
@Jon: I understand her need to be herself and not hide but she knew she was ghay before signing up and knew the army’s rules.
As for B’s suggestion that homosexuality be treated like a disease in order to get a medical discharge is very offensive and dangerous.
and again whats with the comments being hidden like we’re five year olds and who cannot handle big words or statments we disagree with. That comment system is ruining this blog.
Drew
Thats just sad. Sick, wrong, sad.
Jon
@ousslander: I know the rules and I am enlisting. Well I’m doing it b.c i partied to much in college.
Jon
Am I getting voted down b.c I’m joining or b.c I failed at school? lol.
B
o. 10 · ousslander “As for B’s suggestion that homosexuality be treated like a disease in order to get a medical discharge is very offensive and dangerous.”
You need to learn to read – I wasn’t comparing it to disease but rather pointing out that physiological traits or conditions that result in a discharge are not grounds for a refund.
Some of those conditions are diseases, but not all. The U.S. Army, for example, requires that male recruits be between 5′ and 6’8″ tall. If you are a shade under 6’8″ and grow a few tenths of an inch later than expected, you will be too tall. If that triggered a discharge, do you think you should have to refund any tuition you received?
I just picked an easy example, figuring people would be smart enough to fill in any gaps.
ousslander
@Jon: I wish you the best of luck. I was field artillery and went in right after high school.
As for the comments disappearing, it seems if you don’t agree with the story or majority of comments you get banished. It’s an attempt to shut down any conversation or exchange of thoughts.
B Apologies for the misunderstanding. However her homosexuality did not suddenly develop, by this time people know their sexuality wether they accept it or not. SO i do not think your argument applies.
BumBoyofBeelzebub
LOL is this a fucking joke??? She gets thrown out, sacked, from the army and has then to repay the costs of her training?
DOH! This is madness
Hilarious
I feel bad for her and don’t think it’s remotely fair, but at the same time DADT has been around long enough for her to know that telling anyone at all was a bad idea while enlisted.
Instead of arguing about DADT though I think we should be helping her as a community. DADT isn’t going to up and disappear overnight, but if enough people chip in her bill can.
B
No. 15 · ousslander wrote, “@B Apologies for the misunderstanding. However her homosexuality did not suddenly develop, by this time people know their sexuality wether they accept it or not. SO i do not think your argument applies.”
No problem. But I’ve met people who came out at various ages, some in their 30s or 40s. Some people grow up in very sexually repressive environments and it can take longer for them to get over the repression. The repression in some regions of the U.S. has been a community project, so I don’t think the financial consequences should be the responsibility of a single individual.
On the other hand, if someone knew they were gay, signed up to get an education, and then came out for the specific purpose of getting a discharge, that would be a different situation (but I’m not going to guess about a specific individual I don’t know).
Lola
I don’t understand why people in the gay rights movement feel like they can wage a war against the system and not loose anything in the process. I’m quite sure there are many Black people who would gladly have taken a $80,000.00 price tag in lieu of a rope or a bullet.